Monongalia County OKs application to add 82-acre parcel to Harmony Grove TIF

Monongalia County commissioners voted Feb. 12 to approve submitting an application to the West Virginia Department of Economic Development to add a roughly 82-acre parcel (Tax Map 13, Parcel 28.1) to the County Commission of Monongalia County Development District No. 5, known as the Harmony Grove tax-increment financing (TIF) district.

The action followed a public hearing at which bond counsel and the developer’s representative described the change as a boundary amendment intended to capture future incremental tax revenues from potential residential development on the parcel and apply those increments to outstanding district bonds. Tom Ammons, bond counsel with Steptoe & Johnson, said the district was created in 2021 with a July 1, 2020 base assessed value and that the amendment simply adds the parcel on the district’s far northern boundary.

“This parcel is currently largely undeveloped, owned by a developer or developer-affiliated entity, and it’s contemplated for residential development,” Ammons said. He added that the plan is not being amended to use TIF funds to develop the parcel itself; rather, the goal is for the parcel’s future incremental revenues to help repay bonds issued for prior infrastructure work.

Patrick Adrian, representing the developer, reiterated that the request is to include the parcel in phase 2 of the TIF so that incremental revenues can be captured if future residential development occurs.

Ammons described the district’s financing structure and current status: bonds were issued in 2021 for roughly $21.5 million for infrastructure and site development in the park; the bonds are structured as drawdown bonds so funds are only disbursed as project costs are presented and approved; about $600,000 of the originally contemplated project funds remain available for draw; and a reserve of about $1.7 million is slated to be funded after the capitalized-interest period. He said a second tranche of approximately $6.5 million would require specified triggers, such as construction starting on a new interchange or meeting coverage calculations, before those funds could be released.

Ammons described completed and ongoing components in the district: the Mountaintop Beverage project is complete and fully assessed; a MECA 911 facility is complete and supported by a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreement; and an expansion of the Mountaintop project and other site work could create additional opportunities to support bond coverage if they reach construction-ready status.

During the hearing a commissioner asked for a general assessment of the TIF’s financial health. Ammons said the structure—drawdown bonds and developer-financed pay-as-you-go requisitions—has kept the project “on very sound footing,” and that additional funds would be considered only if upcoming developments become sufficiently concrete for lenders to fund the second tranche.

The commission then voted to approve a resolution authorizing submission of the boundary-amendment application to the West Virginia Department of Economic Development. The department will have up to 60 days to act or request additional information; if approved, the matter would return to the county for a final order.

Votes at the commission meeting were recorded as a motion, a second and unanimous “aye” votes from the three commissioners present.

The amendment does not change the district’s current uses of TIF proceeds or obligate the county to provide development finance for the parcel; the transcript record repeatedly noted that any development of the parcel would be financed separately from existing TIF disbursements.