At its regular meeting Monday, Town Council passed a resolution declaring the town’s intent to reimburse itself for certain expenditures made prior to the town’s consummation of federally tax-exempt financing (bonds) of a Municipal Improvement District (MID) for business properties along McNulty Road.
The resolution stated that the town anticipates incurring expenditures not to exceed $1 million for the project.
The source of funds for the expenditures with respect to the project will be the town’s general fund.
Town administrator John Perry said that bonds used to pay for an MID would be paid back through a property tax on the commercial property owners within the MID, not the residential property owners in the town. Perry said the tax would be collected by the County. The assessment would become a lien on the property.
Perry said Municap, Inc. a financial consulting firm, has been contracted, at a cost of $10,000 – $15,000, to conduct Phase I of the project to determine the methodology and property assessments of each property in the project. He said this phase should take four to six weeks and will determine whether the town should move forward with the project.
If council goes forward, then bonds will be issued to cover the cost of the project, which should take about a year and a half to complete according to Perry.
The project encompasses the business properties along all of McNulty Road to the visitor center and includes street trees, landscaping, signage and sidewalks, as well as funds for staffing the town’s visitor center and painting the water tower.
Members of the MID committee are Charles L. McCallum, Ken Parnell, Larry Sharpe, Kem Smith, Mike Switzer, John Perry, Michael Criss and Robert Cappadona.
Perry said the Town Council will hold a series of public hearings prior to the issuance of bonds. He said if the project goes well, then he would expect to move forward with the remainder of the town’s business district.
