TIF for Ted & Others? (aka: Tax Abatements?)
Re ; Tif for Ted December 20, 2013 10:27 AM
From: “Ted Noftall” <Ted@TedNoftall.com>
To: “Greg Kisela” <gkisela@port-orange.org>
Greg,
The increased talk about the urgency to assign TIF revenues to the Riverwalk promoter to assist with the financing of whatever project he plans on selling at Riverwalk has reminded me that we never concluded our discussion on TIF for every other developer who has ever fought blight in either the Eastport CRA or The Town Center CRA by bringing something out of the ground.
Accordingly I would again request that you schedule a special joint meeting of Council and the 2 CRA’s to establish the policy and procedures necessary to authorize tax increment sharing with ALL DEVELOPERS within the 2 CRA districts and not just a few Buddies.
Ted Noftall
From: Ted Noftall [mailto:Ted@TedNoftall.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 13, 2013 8:11 PM
To: gkisela@port-orange.org; Donna Steinbac (dsteinebac@port-orange.org)
Cc: Bob Ford (rford37@cfl.rr.com); Dennis Kennedy (dkennedy@port-orange.org); don@amlsfl.com; Drew Bastian (db2070@cfl.rr.com); Mayor Green (agreen@port-orange.org)
Subject: Re ; Tif for Ted
Greg,
I apologize for any confusion I have caused for you. The answers to your 2 questions are yes and yes.
Yes I intend applying for a share of the tax increment my investment has created at Oak Heights Business Park, AND
Yes I believe a joint meeting of both CRA’s should be held to establish the policy required to implement tax increment sharing within the 2 CRA districts.
The reason for my 1st yes is the brazenous with which you and the Mayor felt it appropriate to provide TIF to Buddy Lacour having never shared one thin dime of TIF with any other developer in either of the city’s CRA’s before.
The 2nd yes flows from the first in that never having shared the Tax Increment before no policy, or precedent exists on which anyone can know to proceed.
Ted Noftall
—–Original Message—–
From: Kisela, Greg [mailto:gkisela@port-orange.org]
Sent: Thursday, June 13, 2013 1:32 PM
To: Ted Noftall
Subject: RE: TIF for Ted
Ted: I am confused. Yesterday your question related to a specific project that you developed that you desired to make application for TIF revenues to be provided to you in the form of an incentive. Today it appears that as a Board member of the CRA you are calling for a CRA/Council workshop to discuss the distribution of the tax increment.
Please confirm this is your intent?
Greg Kisela
City Manager
From: Ted Noftall [mailto:Ted@TedNoftall.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 13, 2013 1:12 PM
To: Hank Springer; ‘Pat Nelan’
Cc: gkisela@port-orange.org; Donna Steinbac; Bob Ford; Dennis Kennedy; don@amlsfl.com; Drew Bastian; Mayor Green
Subject: The purpose of CRA’s
Hank and Pat,
Those entities including the City, County and Hospital districts that contribute a portion of the property tax they would otherwise receive, to specifically defined CRA’s, do so for one reason and one reason only — To Eliminate Blight within those specifically defined geographic boundaries, AND before that earmarking can even begin a Blight Study and Finding of Necessity have to occur.
That tax increment or TIF is earmarked to finance, at least in part, the cost to eliminate that blight through capital investment. Either government or the private sector or a crony capitalist combination of both can undertake that blight elimination ….. the success of which being measured by increased assessed property values resulting from capital investment.
The next logical development in this process should have been the sharing of the Tax Increment among the blight busters as formulated by higher assessed values resulting from their respective capital investments, AND that is where the ball has stalled in Port Orange with the CRA’s retaining all of the Tax Increment as out of an episode of Father Knows Best.
Only in Port Orange the City/CRA’s did not know what was best as evidenced by their bloated personnel budgets and the colossal failure of Riverwalk within the Town Center CRA and the Eastport Business Park within the Eastport CRA…..both of which were public/private ventures which is to say crony capitalism at its worst.
Council needs to be encouraged to immediately convene a joint workshop of both CRA’s to formulate policy regarding distribution of the Tax Increment.
Ted Noftall
From: Ted Noftall [mailto:Ted@TedNoftall.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 13, 2013 1:10 PM
To: Kisela, Greg; Green, Allen; Steinebach, Donna
Cc: Bob Ford; don@amlsfl.com; Kennedy, Dennis; Drew Bastian
Subject: Re: TIF for Ted
I will I will be happy to Greg but I am confused as to your reference to ” Normally …….. investment ”
I understood there are no specific forms, procedures or precedent that have been established by Council regarding TIF sharing with blight busters within the 2 CRA’s. If I am mistaken please send along the details of those previous Tax Increment distributions., otherwise I would caution you to not start taking positions on the policy decisions that Council will need to undertake regarding distribution of Tax Increment revenues to the many blight busters in CRA districts.
In hindsight I should have suggested a joint CRA/Council workshop on this very topic and would call for one at this time.
Now as regards your question — Completed blight busting efforts at Oak Heights consist of Subdivision Improvements and 2 Office/Warehouse buildings. Those efforts have increased the blighted 2002 assessed value of $291,600 to a 2012 enhanced assessed value of $ 1,495,513. Please have Donna calculate the tax increment on that increase so we can be quantify the amount we should be dividing up currently ….and for the past decade.
Future blight busting efforts as we contemplate them today will consist of 3 additional Office/Warehouse buildings to be constructed as market conditions and TIF revenue sharing allow.
Hope this is helpful.
Ted Noftall
Oak Heights Business Park
—–Original Message—–
From: Kisela, Greg [mailto:gkisela@port-orange.org]
Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2013 2:50 PM
To: Ted Noftall; Green, Allen; Steinebach, Donna
Cc: don@amlsfl.com<mailto:don@amlsfl.com>; Kennedy, Dennis; Drew Bastian; Bob Ford; Clark, Wayne
Subject: RE: TIF for TED
Ted: Normally dollars are committed to prior to any new development or redevelopment as an incentive for the developer or property owner to make the investment. Can you break out for me what is existing and completed versus what is planned?
Greg Kisela
City Manager
From: Ted Noftall [mailto:Ted@TedNoftall.com]
Sent: Wednesday, June 12, 2013 9:04 AM
To: gkisela@port-orange.org<mailto:gkisela@port-orange.org>; Mayor Green (agreen@port-orange.org<mailto:agreen@port-orange.org>); Donna Steinbac (dsteinebac@port-orange.org<mailto:dsteinebac@port-orange.org>)
Cc: don@amlsfl.com<mailto:don@amlsfl.com>; Dennis Kennedy (dkennedy@port-orange.org<mailto:dkennedy@port-orange.org>); Drew Bastian (db2070@cfl.rr.com<mailto:db2070@cfl.rr.com>); Bob Ford (rford37@cfl.rr.com<mailto:rford37@cfl.rr.com>); ‘Clark, Wayne’
Subject: TIF for TED
Greg,
If I understood the Mayor correctly at last evening’s CRA discussion about giving TIF revenue to Buddy Lacour I believe he agreed to chair a meeting between you myself and Donna to work on my application to also receive TIF revenues created at my Oak Heights Industrial Park development.
The procedures established in this meeting will prove to be a valuable road map for all developers within the Eastport and Town Center CRA’s to apply for the TIF they are or will be generating also.
Oak Heights which started a little before you arrived consisted of an approximate 8 acre tract of woods at what was then the blighted end of Oak Place. In fact you could say the blight I purchased that was the very reason the Eastport CRA was established to begin with.
I cleared that site and installed utilities, street lights, curbs, gutters and master storm water retention….exactly as you see in the Eastport Business Park without the $5 million taxpayer subsidy that park received. Today Oak Heights has 2 Office/Warehouses 100% occupied employing nearly 40 individuals many of whom are Port Orange residents. At build out Oak Heights will have 5 such Office/ Warehouses.
Oak Heights Court itself has been called one of the prettiest roads into a business park anywhere particularly this time of year with the magnolias in full bloom. When I drive in I am reminded of the drive at 12 Oaks in Gone with the Wind. That beauty also extends to the rear of my property which adjoins the railway tracks and while not many freight engineers likely appreciate the $100,000 landscape investment City codes required at Oak Heights I feel confident that will not be the case when passenger traffic is re-established.
I am also pleased to be able to say that not a dime of taxpayer subsidy was requested, received or needed to construct Oak Heights…..but that should not be held against my development, AND everyone can use a bump in their bottom line. I know you must feel that way otherwise you would not be planning on giving an across the board raise to 300+ of Port Orange’s finest who work for you.
I am also pleased that Councilman Ford said on several occasions last evening that he would be pleased to ” incentivize worthwhile projects “. I sure hope he will consider Oak Heights which turned a $200,000 assessed patch of dirt into, at build-out, what will be 5 Office/Warehouses assessed in excess of $5,000,000 and employing 100 individuals …….. all without a dime of taxpayer subsidy to be such a worthwhile project.
Late afternoon meetings work best for me however I will make myself available any time convenient to you all.
Ted Noftall
Oak Heights Industrial Park
700 Oak Heights Court
Port Orange Fl 32127