Supervisors voice concern over Bonita Avenue project
Oct. 19—OTTUMWA — Wapello County Supervisor Jerry Parker acknowledged he can't control the outcome of the city of Ottumwa's potential housing development on Bonita Avenue.
He can offer his opinion, however, and the supervisors largely share it — he's not opposed to it, but has concerns about the financing, as well as creating an urban renewal area solely for the purpose of another TIF district.
The supervisors submitted a letter to the city outlining their position, which will be read before the city's public hearing on the matter Nov. 2. Parker said, contrary to what some believe, people's taxes will go up. The project would be a three-building, 108-until multi-residential development on the city's north side and be funded with a 20-year TIF rebate to the developer.
"Every year, the schools, city and county budgets are increased because utility costs go up, inflationary costs, salaries for employees," he said. "So how do you pay for that? The best way is to create new development, like the housing project.
"So let's say you don't use those TIF dollars to pay for those increased costs. Let's say you give the money back to the developer," he said. "Where does that money come from? Where does it have to come from? Us. Twenty years of free taxes is a lifetime."
Supervisor Brian Morgan agreed.
"Housing is a need and if someone wants to develop in our community, that's great. I'm not necessarily completely opposed to some help on things — Bonita is going to have to be improved with widening and some sidewalk stuff," he said. "I'm 100% not in agreement of a 20-year tax abatement. We have bills to pay and sooner or later you have to start increasing your general fund with development. When that's being pumped into TIF and other loans it's very tough to do that."
One of Parker's biggest issues was the allocation of general fund money from the TIF. The city would get 50%, the schools would receive 30% and the county 20%. Between the hotel and the Bonita project, that would be a wide discrepancy.
Mayor Tom Lazio was in attendance and was asked whether he could shed any light on the the city's position on the project. He noted that nothing has been agreed on as of yet.
Lazio said that because the Bonita land is privately owned, the city can't stop a development from occurring. However, Huegerich Construction has stated it can't do the project without a TIF rebate, or it would likely have to be scaled back.
"Unfortunately that was negotiated with a previous employee, and I'm not sure our council wants to see a 20-year rebate at this point. But that has not been discussed publicly," he said. "I can't really offer much of an opinion until we have some public discussion."
There already has been some work conducted on the land, but the city has stayed out of it. Lazio said that work is the result of a contract between the developer and former owner on private land, and the city doesn't have involvement.
"I don't blame them for asking for 20 years of free taxes," Parker said. "But I blame us if we say yes."
In other business:
—The city agreed to fund $24,012 to help the Ottumwa Public Library digitize some of its historical records and documents. Among the documents would be old editions of the Ottumwa Courier up to 1924, as well as other local publications throughout the years.
"Over the years we've wanted to digitize them, one of the main reasons is that microfilm breaks downs over time. Once that record is deteriorated, we have no backup," library director Sonja Ferrell said. "Also, when you digitize something, you can do keyword searches. So if you wanted to research a great-great-grandparent that passed away in the 1920s, you could do that keyword search just like searching on Google and narrow it down."
— Chad Drury can be reached at cdrury@ottumwacourier.com, and on Twitter @ChadDrury
