City staff outline final sinking-fund payment of about $1.185 million to Rocket Properties; title transfer follows

City finance and legal staff told the Public Works Committee they are prepared to issue a final sinking-fund payment to Rocket Properties to satisfy a court judgment and obtain title to the parcel in question.

Chad Becker of the Treasury said the judgment and related attorney-fee award have been resolved by the courts and mayor; with council approval finance will issue the payment to the claimant and forward paperwork to the county so the repayment can be levied back to the sinking fund over a three-year period. Becker said the payment amount under consideration in the meeting was roughly $1,185,000 (described in the agenda as “$1,185,000 and some change”).

A lawyer from the city’s legal department (Mr. Vaughn) explained this is the last required payment on the case and that an April 15 hearing addressed attorney fees and costs, leading to the judge’s ruling that produced the amount discussed at the meeting. Legal staff said the payment covers attorney fees and costs plus amounts reimbursing taxes (Avalon taxes) back to February when the taking was determined. “And so with this payment, we will then have title to the property,” legal staff said.

Committee members asked whether this resolved the matter; staff confirmed the payment would close the case. When asked for a sinking-fund balance, staff provided a figure during the meeting that was read aloud as “70 8.9 million” (the transcript of the spoken number was not fully clear); staff attribution is included below.

The item was presented as a resolution authorizing payment; no committee roll-call vote was recorded in the committee transcript. Staff said, with council approval, the finance office will issue payment and pursue the county levy process to recover the appropriation over a three-year levy period.