Alpena council approves TIF plan to support Gardens of Alpena senior-living project

Alpena City Council on March 3 adopted a resolution approving the US 23 North Corridor Improvement Authority development plan and tax increment financing plan to support a proposed senior-living project acquired by the Gardens of Alpena.

The plan would limit tax capture to the roughly 10-acre parcel the Gardens of Alpena acquired for an independent-living, assisted-living and memory-care campus and would use a portion of future incremental property taxes to reimburse eligible development costs. Mac McClellan, the Corridor Improvement Authority consultant, told the council the project represents an estimated investment of “over $47,000,000” and that “the project couldn't be built without some sort of community financial support, in this case ... property tax relief.”

The TIF arrangement described in the presentation confines tax capture to taxes generated on the Gardens parcel; the speaker said about 90% of future incremental taxes on that parcel would be captured for the development and about 10% would be returned to local taxing jurisdictions. McClellan and city staff emphasized that, as described in the development agreement the authority will draft with the Gardens of Alpena, “there is no obligation on the part of the authority or the city if the taxes don't reach a certain level or if the project does not proceed.” The authority approved the development and TIF plans on Feb. 18; County and community college boards approved waivers or concurrence resolutions (county Jan. 28; community college Feb. 20), and the library board approved an interlocal agreement Feb. 19.

During the public-hearing period two residents spoke against the plan. Michael Kramer, a resident of Alpena, said he opposed a tax abatement for the project because, he said, it would “subsidiz[e] a competition” with existing senior-housing providers in the city. An audience member who identified herself as a retired nurse said she worried the planned facility would not accept Medicare or Medicaid and that she had “not heard anything about RNs or licensed staff working there,” a concern she said could affect resident care. Those concerns were recorded in public comment but did not change council action.

Council member Anna Mitchell moved adoption of the resolution, seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Walczak. The motion passed on recorded voice votes: Council members Mitchell, Walczak, Currier, Carrier, Hollinsfeld and Mayor Johnson voted yes. The resolution was adopted subject to final approval of content by the city manager and of form by authority counsel, as stated in the motion.

Next steps identified in the presentation include finalizing a development agreement between the Corridor Improvement Authority and the Gardens of Alpena — McClellan said the authority anticipates that agreement in April — and carrying out the reimbursement and documentation procedures laid out in the TIF plan. Several items noted in the presentation will require continued administrative work: confirming the final capture procedures and timeline in writing, closing any remaining intergovernmental agreements, and completing the development-agreement review by authority counsel and the city manager before reimbursements would begin.

The record presented to council shows the development area is located in the northern portion of the city near US 23 North and that the TIF capture would apply only to taxes on the Gardens parcel unless the development plan is amended later. McClellan described the public-notice process the authority followed, including publication and mailed notice to taxing jurisdictions and property owners, and said most of the affected taxing jurisdictions had approved the plan’s terms or a waiver. The presentation referenced both a “maximum of 28 years” for some capture language and elsewhere described a 20-year period; the council packet and final development agreement will be the source of the definitive term.

Council members and staff did not alter the plan at the meeting. The council's adoption authorizes the city manager and authority counsel to complete the technical and legal review before the authority and the Gardens of Alpena move to a development agreement and any subsequent tax reimbursements.

Votes at a glance: Resolution to approve the US 23 North Corridor Improvement Authority development plan and tax increment financing plan — Moved by Council member Anna Mitchell; seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Walczak; outcome: approved (recorded ayes: Council member Mitchell, Mayor Pro Tem Walczak, Council member Currier, Council member Carrier, Council member Hollinsfeld, Mayor Johnson).