Council, outside counsel debate Reister Point Crossing development agreement, port authority bond plan and remaining TIF issues

City attorneys and outside counsel presented an update June 30 on the proposed development agreement for the Reister Point Crossing project and outlined several remaining points of negotiation with the developer's attorney.

Outside counsel Steve Friedman and Russ Balthus of Squire Patton Boggs told the committee the most fundamental change in the latest draft is the financing structure: instead of the city issuing bonds to fund public improvements and be repaid with TIF (tax-increment financing) pilot payments, the port authority would act as the bond issuer and conduit. "So instead of the city issuing it, the port issues it, but the city is still the entity that collects the payments and has to provide those payments to the port authority," Balthus said. He said the arrangement does not change the city's right to receive a specified reimbursement: "$2,724,491.35" for the city's portion of the connector road already completed.

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