Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Development Special Assessments topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
PI committee agrees to terms to recover past-due specials on 16 Lawrence Bay lots; forwards deal to council
Summary
The Public Infrastructure Committee on Feb. 18 voted 3-0 to forward a negotiated agreement that would require the developer to escrow roughly $525,000 to cover past-due special assessments on 16 Lawrence Bay lots and restructure future specials under a CID and RHID, subject to governing-body approval and Department of Commerce review.
The Topeka Public Infrastructure Committee voted 3-0 on Feb. 18 to advance terms of a negotiated settlement intended to recoup most of the past-due special assessments on 16 lots in the Lawrence Bay subdivision and to restructure future assessments through a community improvement district (CID) and a rural housing incentive district (RHID).
Staff and the developer's counsel described the material terms as including an escrowed payment of roughly $525,000, which staff said exceeds the actual past-due specials of about $423,000. The committee approved a motion to forward those terms to the governing body for full consideration, conditioned on approval of the development agreement, RHID and CID project plan.
Braxton, a city staff member leading the presentation, said the negotiated payment "exceeds the amount of those past due specials by just over a hundred thousand dollars." He said restructuring future specials would spread them over 20 annual installments under the CID and that the developer's approach would reduce monthly specials from about $300 to roughly $150 for future property buyers. Braxton told the committee the RHID process requires a financial analysis (the "but-for" test) by the city's financial advisor; the committee noted prior RHIDs used an 18% equity return and a 7.5% internal rate for that analysis.
Jennifer Sork, general counsel for LB Lots and related entities, told the committee the developer was prepared to escrow the agreed payment in "an act of good faith" and hold the funds in a "protected account" pending completion of the required approvals. Sork said the escrow would be released only after the development agreement, RHID, CID and other contingencies were satisfied.
City attorney Amanda Stanley said the development agreement is being finalized and that council approval would be contingent on the project plan meeting required tests (she referenced the project-plan/BEP review steps). Staff outlined a tentative schedule to present the RHID application to council for discussion on March 11 and action on March 18, then submit to the Kansas Department of Commerce for its review of the RHID creation and the project plan.
Committee members noted the alternative had been tax sale or land-bank transfer, which in prior similar lots produced low sale proceeds and would not recoup the back specials. One committee member said the negotiated approach offered a chance to recover substantially more for the taxing entities than a tax sale would have.
The committee voted to recommend approval of the terms and forward the matter to the governing body for final action; the motion passed 3-0.
Ending
Staff said they are finalizing the developer agreement and the RHID/CID applications and will present the items to the council on the timeline discussed. Committee members thanked staff and counsel for the work to reach the negotiated terms.
