MOUNT VERNON — The City of Mount Vernon is considering adding two new TIF districts to accompany proposed developments on its east and south sides.
A TIF (short for Tax Increment Financing) is an economic development tool that uses taxes on future gains in real estate values to pay for new infrastructure improvements, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. They are implemented in commercial districts with the goal of incentivizing future development there.
“The TIF creates funding for public or private projects by borrowing against the future increase in these property-tax revenues. The intent is for the improvement to enhance the value of existing properties and encourage new development in the district,” the U.S. DOT states on its website.
“TIF districts are usually established for a period of 20 to 25 years, during which time all incremental real estate tax revenues above the base rate at the time the district is established flow into the TIF. The proceeds from the TIF can be used to repay bonds issued to cover upfront project development costs. Alternatively, they can be used on a pay-as-you-go basis to fund individual projects.”
Mount Vernon currently has three TIF districts: on Coshocton Avenue; at the Industrial Park; and along State Route 13, stretching from James Street on the north end to the Martinsburg Road intersection on the south end.
The fourth and fifth TIF districts would encompass two new city developments: The Retreat at Mount Vernon, bordering Coshocton Avenue on the city’s far east side; and Liberty Crossing, bordering Newark Road on the city’s far south side. Both projects call for approximately 500 new residential units, with the potential for commercial activity on the property as well.
City Auditor Terry Scott told City Council on Monday night that he and Mayor Matt Starr had been discussing the idea of establishing TIF districts in these areas.
The TIF districts would only encompass portions of the properties designated for commercial activity, or where multi-story housing exists, Scott said, as required by law.
“Not all of the entire property is justified for the TIF because TIF districts in the areas that we’re looking for are only those properties that are in either two- or three-level (buildings) and/or commercial properties,” Scott explained during the city’s Planning and Zoning Committee meeting. “So that’s what we’re looking for.”
Establishing TIF districts in these areas would allow the city to fund infrastructural improvements in the decades ahead, Scott said. Doing so would not impact real estate taxes for residents, nor would it impact the amount Mount Vernon’s two public school districts, Mount Vernon City Schools and the Knox County Career Center, receive from them.
“They get their money. They get carved out,” Scott said of the school districts. “Anything else then gets redirected in our direction. The taxpayer, as far as the property owners, their tax bill doesn’t look any different. … It’s all in the background, because there’s nothing that the taxpayers have to do, plus or minus.”
Scott proposed the city’s new TIF districts last 30 years. The city would not be able to collect during the first 15 years, he explained, due to the recent creation of its citywide Community Reinvestment Area (CRA). The city would, however, be able to collect TIF funds the last 15 years, which could prove beneficial down the road.
“We could capture (revenue) for the remaining 15 years,” he said. “And I’m certain, by that time, we’ll be ready for some more improvements again.”
Mount Vernon implemented its first TIF district in 2000, when the economic development tool was used to grow the new Coshocton Avenue commercial district. Scott said all three of the city’s eventual TIF projects have proved beneficial over time.
“We have done improvements in all of those areas along the way,” he told Council.
City Council will use its next Planning and Zoning Committee meeting (before the legislative session on Nov. 28) to craft legislation for the two new TIF districts. This process will include determining the exact geographic locations of the districts and deciding what kinds of improvement projects the funds will be used for.
Scott said he hopes to have Council pass this legislation by the end of the year, so the 30-year TIF cycle for both districts can begin in 2023.
The earlier the city establishes these TIF districts, Scott said, the more money it will be able to redirect toward improvement projects down the road, as the base value of the land will only increase over time.
“The land value that’s there right now becomes your frozen threshold. That’s the value that is always going to go to the schools and every other entity that has real property tax distributions,” Scott explained. “Beyond (the frozen threshold), funds will be redirected for those improvements as they come along.”
Both properties are currently farmland. But it won’t always be that way, Scott noted. If the city establishes the new TIF districts now, while the land is still undeveloped, it will take advantage of the lowest base value possible, meaning the highest potential for TIF funding moving forward.
“We’re poising ourselves to know that we’re going to have improvements that we need to (make) out there,” Scott said.
The main purpose of this effort, Scott said, will be to give the city another financial tool for infrastructure projects down the road.
“This is a conversation to prep you folks, give you an idea of what we’re looking at, and the abilities down the road, to be able to handle some cost expenditures that the city could or possibly will incur along the way,” Scott told Council.
“Even though those dollars may not come in right away, we could potentially, if we needed to for any reason, we could use it as leverage for borrowing power, because we know those dollars eventually will be coming through to us.”
An update from the chief
Also on Monday night, Mount Vernon Police Chief Robert Morgan delivered his quarterly update during Council’s Fire, Police and Civil Defense Committee meeting.
Morgan said the MVPD handled 13,511 total calls for service from Jan. 1-Sept. 30. The department is on-pace to handle approximately 18,000 calls this year, “which puts us right back to where we were pre-COVID,” Morgan said. The number of overall calls dropped in 2020 and 2021, but Morgan said those numbers are back up this year.
The MVPD has handled close to 500 traffic accidents so far this year, Morgan said, including roughly 80 injury-involved accidents and 400 non-injury accidents. MVPD officers have arrested a total of 506 individuals for various crimes, and they have issued just over 1,500 traffic citations.
Morgan said the department’s drug detectives remain “very active” in the process of “working on some of the problems we have here in Mount Vernon.” The MVPD has collected approximately 300 grams of meth so far this year; a little over 2,300 grams of marijuana; small amounts of heroin and cocaine; and about 50 grams of fentanyl, which Morgan called “the most deadly drug we’re getting right now.”
The department’s work has led to 106 felony drug indictments this year with the Knox County Prosecutor’s Office.
Morgan noted later that these drug numbers represent a drop from what the city saw in 2020 and 2021. Most communities saw increased drug use during the pandemic, Morgan said, and Mount Vernon was no different.
The MVPD has confiscated 21 different firearms so far this year, Morgan added. The department’s detective division has worked 224 cases total, including drug cases.
Morgan said the city has experienced four drug overdose deaths this year. But the city has also experienced 41 overdose survivals, where local first responders have been able to save patients.
Morgan credited the Mount Vernon Fire Department for being “speedy on the spot when we have one of those situations,” and he also credited the increased availability of Narcan locally for that ratio.
The MVPD’s community advocate position is “still going strong,” Morgan said. Dan Jackman, director of the MVPD’s Community Advocacy Relations Division (CARD), has had active involvement in a little over 1,000 calls so far this year, Morgan said. He has responded to the scene on roughly 300 calls, and has performed 552 interventions, where he has referred a resident to another agency to seek help.
Jackman has also completed Phase 1 and 2 hostage negotiation training, which has allowed him to begin accompanying the department’s hostage negotiation team on calls.
Morgan said the MVPD is currently fully staffed. Two members of the department are on injury leave right now, and one female officer is nearing maternity leave. She has been taken off the road and will work in an office position until her child is born.
“Our family’s fixing to grow by one,” Morgan said with a smile.
Morgan called PAK United‘s second summer of events “a success,” as it included softball, fishing, archery, basketball and a MVPD vs. MVFD community kickball game (the fire department won). Morgan said the events continue to serve as a positive experience, linking the community and its youth to local first responder agencies.
The MVPD recently brought on a new K-9, Morgan said. He is a 2-year-old German Shepherd named Tuk (pronounced Took). Tuk and his handler are currently undergoing training, Morgan said, and are expected to hit the streets the first week of December.
The MVPD’s new two cruisers, which the city ordered in January, also came in this month. Morgan said the department is in the process of swapping vehicles out to get the new ones on the road.
Fuel costs for the department were also “way over budget (this year), compared to what we planned for in 2021,” Morgan said. “We didn’t realize that, for a big part of the year, fuel was going to double. That was an unexpected expense that we had to navigate.”
Mount Vernon Fourth Ward City Councilman Mike Hillier asked Morgan what all the new housing developments in the city might mean for the MVPD. Morgan said that ultimately, the department will need to expand to account for the anticipated increase in calls.
“The Mount Vernon Police Department is gonna have to grow within the next three to five years, just like the city’s growing,” Morgan said. “In the last almost 30 years, the bottom line number of the Mount Vernon Police Department has only gained five officers. We gained three officers in 2002. We gained one officer in 2014 and one officer in 2017, I believe. … So our numbers have only grown five officers.
“With the number of calls that we have – 18,000 calls a year – we are going to have to add officers to the mix to help handle those calls. So I believe that, as the city grows, the Mount Vernon Police Department’s gonna have to grow with it.”
A generous donation
Mount Vernon City Council received a donation Monday night from a group hoping to improve a bathroom in one of the city’s parks.
Steve Oster, superintendent of the Knox County Board of Developmental Disabilities, and the owners of CrossFit 1808 in Mount Vernon – Katie, Nick and Vince Fiorilli – stopped by to drop off a check for $22,500, which is to be used to help repair and renovate the bathroom near Harmony Playground.
The Board of DD and CrossFit 1808 partnered in 2018 to build the all-inclusive playground, which sits behind Memorial Park on the city’s near-south side. Oster said the bathroom near that park has become inaccessible, however, proving detrimental for local children and families looking to enjoy the playground.
Oster said he talked recently to City Engineer Brian Ball, and Ball said the city is currently “short on some money in getting that bathroom up and running.”
So, like they did in 2018, the founders of CrossFit 1808 decided to help out.
The company decided that all of the proceeds from this year’s Caroline’s Classic – an annual CrossFit competition held by 1808 that also serves as a fundraiser for disability awareness – would go toward this project.
CrossFit 1808 raised $11,250 through the competition, and Knox DD matched that total. The two entities presented the donation to Council on Monday in hopes that it would spur action on the project.
“We know you take on a lot of projects with the parks, but we want this to be your priority because kids with disabilities really want to use the playground,” Oster said.
Council applauded Oster and the Fiorillis for their initiative and thanked them for the donation.
A new member initiated
Monday night served as the first City Council meeting for the legislative body’s newest member.
James Mahan, a 30-year Mount Vernon resident and Mount Vernon Nazarene University’s assistant registrar, experienced his first meeting representing the city’s First Ward.
Mahan was selected recently to take the place of Josh Kirby, who stepped down Oct. 20 for health reasons. He will assume all of Kirby’s committee responsibilities, including serving as the chair of the Fire, Police, Civil Defense Committee; second chair of the Finance Committee; and being a member of the Utilities and Employee and Community Relations committees.
Mahan said Monday he was grateful for the opportunity and the support he has received so far from other Council members and city employees.
“Thank you for the welcome, everybody. I’m keenly aware that somebody else was sitting in this chair not long ago and had to give up his time, and I know many of you were friends, and so I join you in prayers for Josh and his family,” Mahan said.
“I’m here for the citizens of the First Ward, and I come here as a citizen – I have not been involved in government before. But I’m interested in it and I’m passionate about Mount Vernon. I’m going to do my best for the citizens.
“I appreciate the help – I appreciate the elbow from (Amber) Keener when I needed to remember to second my first motion; thank you for the first email from (Mike) Hillier; and all the help from Todd (Hill) and Terry (Scott) already. I’m impressed with how quickly some things seem to move, and I’m looking forward to working on Council.”
Also on Monday night, Council…
- heard an update on Ariel-Foundation Park during its Parks and Lands Committee meeting. Mark Fritz, executive director of the Foundation Park Conservancy, said industrial fans were installed in the Schnormeier Event Center this year at a cost of $45,000. They proved beneficial during weddings, exercise classes, company banquets and other occasions on hot summer days, he said. The park is currently adding a new, $100,000 fire suppression system to the event center, and is also spending $30,000 to close and weather-proof the south side of the center. Fritz said the headliner at this year’s Fourth of July concert will be Parrots of the Caribbean, a Jimmy Buffet tribute band.
- heard an update on the Mount Vernon Farmer’s Market. Market Coordinator Marty Trese reported that a total of 28 vendors participated in this year’s market, held on Public Square every Saturday morning from May through October. The vendors sold a wide array of products, from vegetables to coffee, all of which were fresh and locally grown. The market welcomed live music for the first time this year, and also featured a new product: organically grown chestnuts. “Our offerings continue to grow,” Trese said. People from across the state, country and world attended this year’s market, Trese said, including a group that found its way to Public Square from Austria. Trese said the market considers 2022 a success and is looking forward to another impactful season in 2023. Trese said a focus moving forward will be continuing to find ways to make the market accessible and beneficial to local senior citizens.
- adopted a resolution “authorizing and directing the safety-service director to advertise for bids for sludge removal required for the years 2023, 2024 and 2025.”
- adopted a resolution “authorizing the safety-service director to dispose of a vehicle in the police department not needed for public use by the City of Mount Vernon.”
- gave a first reading to a resolution “authorizing the safety-service director to release a request for proposals for identifying and selecting a qualified firm or firms to oversee engineering services for the rehabilitation of the city’s water treatment plant.”
- adopted a resolution “authorizing and directing the auditor of the City of Mount Vernon to make supplemental appropriations.” Scott said the city has received supplemental funds through EMS billing charges ($50,000), the lodging excise tax ($40,000), and income taxes ($46,000). This totals $136,000 in extra funds for the city.
- adopted a resolution “authorizing and directing the auditor of the City of Mount Vernon to transfer certain funds.”
- adopted a resolution “authorizing and directing the safety-service director to advertise for bids and enter into contract for a vehicle exhaust removal system for the fire department.”
- adopted an ordinance to create an alternate member for the recreation board.”
- adopted an ordinance “establishing compensation for the assistant city engineer.”
- gave a second reading to an ordinance “fixing the number of hourly employees of the City of Mount Vernon in the water and wastewater departments.”
- gave a second reading to an ordinance “creating the positions and establishing compensation for wastewater superintendent and utility administration manager.”
