Maine Association of Planners
Executive Committee Board Meeting
January 30, 2004 Meeting
Cross Building (Augusta)- Room 107
Executive Committee Board Members present: Jim Fisher, Matt Nazar, Jean Marshall, Hugh Coxe, David Galbriath, Maureen O'Meara, Rich Roedner, and Doug Webster
Other MAP members present: Dan Fleisman
President Fisher opened the meeting at 12:30 following a presentation regarding Tax Increment Financing in the same room.
Item 1: Minutes from 12/5/03 Meeting.
Board members noted that Ann Krieg's name was misspelled in a few locations throughout the minutes. Maureen moved to accept the minutes with the correction of the spelling error. The motion passed unanimously.
Item 2: Presidents Report.
President Fisher reported that he was pleased with the turnout at the TIF workshop preceding the MAP meeting. He noted that the housing TIF parameters allow for a variety of community needs.
He also commented that the Executive Board should start forming the budget for the upcoming fiscal year as it should be proposed by the Board to the membership at the upcoming annual meeting.
Item 3: Treasurer's Report.
Treasurer Fred Marshall was unable to attend today's meeting. The treasurer's report will be addressed at the next Board meeting.
Item 4: Annual Meeting.
Location: Stonehouse in Freeport. Jim will notify Spruce Point that MAP will not be needing their facility. Donna Larson has addressed the liability concerns expressed by Stonehouse. Attendance will likely be limited to 60-65 people due to the facility constraints.
Speaker/ Topic: Maureen reported that planners from Canada that may be able to be the speakers at the upcoming MAP annual meeting. She reported that there was a meeting attended by Evan Richert and Jack Kartez when the topic was briefly discussed. Mark Lapping is working on locating a speaker from Halifax. Charlie Hogan is trying to locate a planner from the New Brunswick area.
The Board discussed how the presentation could be made more relevant to Maine planners. Evan will not be available due to a prior commitment. This could be discussed at subsequent Board meetings once more is known about the Canadian speakers and their intended topics. Rich offered to help coordinate speakers.
Timing: The consensus of the Board was the following;
-8:30 ish- Business Meeting
-9:00 to 12:30 or 1- Presentation with one or two breaks
-1:00 ish- Lunch with awards
-afternoon- Recreation (MAP could suggest informal groups plan own activities)
Recreation: Donna may know of recreational opportunities available in the immediate area. Board members suggested kayaking, boating, nature trails, etc. The present inclination of the Board was that MAP would not formally organize or endorse any specific activity but could present options (and perhaps contacts) to meeting attendees.
Awards: Ann Krieg may not be able to attend the annual meeting. Jim has talked with Michele Gagnon who may be willing to take the leading role for this subcommittee. As with past years, it takes proactive pursuit to ensure that nominations are received.
Budget: There needs to be some closure to the speakers/ topic. Maureen reported that if the speaker(s) come from Canada, MAP may need to help offset transportation expenses.
Sponsors: At past meeting, Noel offered to look into the possibility of some sponsors. Sponsors at past Annual Meetings have provided critical funding to enable the meeting to occur for a net zero budget impact.
Nominating Committee: Jim proposed the Board consider an informal policy that if an Executive Board member is leaving that that person locate a replacement. In accordance with this philosophy, Jim and Jean will work on locating new members. Jim will become the immediate past president and Jean expects to leave the Board. Others Board members stated that they intend to stay on the Board at the present time.
Business Meeting: Proposed items on the agenda include;
-Presidents report
-Amicus Brief- update on status
-Treasurer's report
-Proposed Budget for FY 05
-Nominating Committee for Exec. Board 05 (should have proposed slate of members)
-Volunteer to manage the MAP list serve- JT willing to pass on
Item 5: Strategic Plan.
The Board discussed whether or not any changes should be proposed to the Strategic Plan for the upcoming annual meeting. The Board felt that the TIF workshop preceding the MAP Board meeting was consistent with the goals in the Plan. The consensus of the Board was that there were not any changes necessary to the Strategic Plan at the present time.
Item 6: Future workshop topics.
Jean proposed the concept of having a workshop focusing on housing TIF's as a possible spring workshop topic. Other topic suggested by Board members included Growth Smart Maine and Healthy Communities.
Item 7: Membership.
President Fisher asked Matt to investigate the feasibility of updating the MAP membership directory. The last directory was helpful but involved many logistics. The last newsletter was sent only to MAP members in good standing. Matt will draft a letter to be sent to past MAP members that may have inadvertently not paid their annual dues.
Item 8: Legislative and Policy Committee
Ann Krieg is coordinating the subcommittee. There was a meeting on 1/16/04 to discuss the list of pending bills. Individuals were assigned specific policies. The next meeting was tentatively set for 2/27. There was concern expressed that some bills may need to be addressed prior to this date. It was suggested that Ann should be contacted to set up a meeting for Friday 2/13 @ 2 PM @ SPO. Even if Ann cannot attend this meeting, others (Hugh, Matt, and Maureen) could consider meeting given the short time period between hearings. Jim will post the meeting on the list serve.
Item 9: Newsletter.
Maureen handed out a proposed 2004 schedule. Proposed publication dates are 2/27, 4/23, 9/10 and 12/3. The consensus of the Board was that the schedule should be followed. The last newsletter was only sent to MAP members in good standing (see "Membership" above).
Regarding the upcoming Newsletter, SPO will likely be submitting an article. Peter Morelli @ MSHA may also be willing to draft an article. Judy East could be the planner profile. The Newsletter should include a nominating form and criteria for the MAP awards for the upcoming annual meeting.
Item 10: Website/ List serve.
President Fisher suggested that the list serve should not be "open enrollment" as this leads to spam, etc. JT is willing to hand over the administration of the list serve to a willing person. Perhaps Rodney would be interested in taking this over.
Item 11: New Business
Jean reported that a new Board has been formed to address housing issues on Mount Desert Island. MDI Tomorrow will be developing strategies for workforce housing including seeking contributions or discounted land. She will be on the Board and wanted MAP members to be aware that it has been created.
Item 12: Other Business.
Jim reported that he has become aware of the Maine Bond Coalition. It is an organization focusing on the acquisition of land for public purposes. The consensus of the Board was that MAP should become a member. Jim moved that MAP become a member. Hugh offered to send in the application on MAP's behalf. The motion passed unanimously.
Item 13: Next Meeting.
The next meeting was set for Friday, March 5th @ 10:30 at SPO.
President Fisher adjourned the meeting at 2:00 P.M.
Maine Community Development Association – Maine Association of Planners
Tax Increment Financing Seminar
Cross Building, Augusta
01/30/04
Introductions
Jim Nimon, DECD
Municipal Tax Increment Financing Program
· Local economic development financing program
· shelter against adverse impacts on funding formulas
·
Authorized uses
· capital costs
· financial costs
· professional services
· other costs - admin
Outside - related
· Water, sewer and other infrastructure improvements
· public safety, adverse impact mitigation
Economic Development
· staffing
· environmental improvement programs
· revolving loan funds
· employment training (<20%)
Prohibited
· project costs for general conduct of government
· public recreation facilities
· exception for some State Government occupied buildings in downtowns.
Benefits
· for a period of time the increased value is not included in reports to the state
· retain incremental value in the TIF district
Restrictions
· 25% blighted or needing rehab
· municipal government must follow a public process
· DECD commissioner approves
· no single TIF can be more than 2% of total area
· all districts not more than 5% total
· value limitations - 5% of municipal valuation
· Municipal indebtedness - no more than $50 million per county
· Term - up to 30 years, averaging 15 years
· Any company receiving $10k or more needs to report employment changes..
Downtown TIF districts
Pine Tree Development Zones
· sales and use tax exemptions
· 80% ETIF for employment
· and other incentives
Funding
· Bonds
· Credit enhancement agreements
· Project cost account
CEA Advantages - less indebtedness and risk to towns
CEA Disadvantages - may not get tax exempt bond rate
Designation process -public hearings, voting, application to DECD
Need to get through the process before April 1 or incremental value may not be captured in the TIF (there was some discussion about timing - you may have almost two years after improvements to get a TIF set-up.
www.econdevmaine.com will have the TIF manual by late February.
Pace
Year Number of TIFs
1985 - 89 16 (all bonds)
1990 - 94 23
1995 - 99 104 (move to CEA averaging 50% to business)
2000 - 2003 68
Total: 211 districts with $6.4 billion in value
Currently 186 active districts in 82 communities
Noreen Copp - Ec Dev with Eaton Peabody
· Developer benefit - Credit enhancement, development support (outside the district), marketing support,
· Municipal benefit
· range for communities - as valuation increases - communities can lose from 30% to 70% to state funding formulas.
· benefits to municipality are higher if their losses were going to be higher without the TIF
rules are different for large employers over 10% of the towns workforce (paper mill tif)
· Bonded improvements need to be in the ground within 5 years.
One example of a housing tif - a gated community - this was considered a business tif.
TIF Policies - some good ones, some burdensome
· support municipal policies and land use policies
· allow flexibility and community responsiveness
· act as an economic development incentive, not an obstacle
some policies use performance measures to adjust reimbursement. e.g. less reimbursement to businesses for fewer jobs created.
Shelter calculation -
· Municipal pro forma
· Assumptions
· Mil rate projections
· County tax projections
· Depreciation - for personal property TIFs
· Be wary of "revenue accelerators"
· If town uses TIF benefits for non-TIF purposes, they lose the shelter on that amount of money.
Housing
25% of district must be suitable for residential, blighted, in need of rehab
same restrictions as applied to commercial TIFs
Meet housing needs
Ensure affordability (30% of 120% of the median)
(Details will be out in three months)
Authorize costs
Capital - can include the land costs (unlike commercial TIFs)
Financial - closing insurance, etc.
Outside district - can include mitigation of education costs K-12
Construction of housing is not covered, but construction of public facilities is - e.g. playgrounds, day care,
Financing of loans for construction might be qualified through a revolving loan fund.
Demolition and rehabilitation expenses are eligible.
Unclear what happens when a housing TIF is approved in a downtown TIF district - probably would use an amendment.
Making this project up as they go.
Presentation and questions concluded at 12:05 PM