Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tax Increment Financing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Pueblo council members press for work session after PURA purchase of Stein property with TIF funds
Summary
City councilors asked for a work session after learning the Pueblo Urban Renewal Authority authorized a $400,000 purchase of the Stein property outside a tax increment financing (TIF) district, saying they had not been given a plan or sufficient notice.
Pueblo City Council members pressed for a dedicated work session Monday after learning the Pueblo Urban Renewal Authority (PURA) had authorized the purchase of a property adjacent to a TIF district for $400,000.
City Attorney Sykes told council members the state urban renewal law was amended in 2015 to allow urban renewal authorities to spend TIF funds on property outside a district when the expenditure benefits the district. “The money was used, is voted to use to purchase a property that's directly adjacent to the district,” Sykes said, adding that the 2015 change removed an earlier prohibition. “It has to have a relation to the district. It has to have a benefit to the district.”
Councilors said they were surprised by the timing and the absence of a clear plan. “I think the city's concern should be that city council many years ago approved a plan with outlines with the district…even though it's across the street, is outside of Thurman Renewal District,” Councilor Flores said, adding he attended the PURA meeting and found no identified plan for the property. He said the city had provided $400,000 to purchase the lot but there had been no due diligence presented to council and no post-purchase plan. “There was no direct plan on what the property was going to be used for,” Flores said.
Other members raised procedural concerns about notice and oversight. Councilor Mashpee said the matter should be aired with public notice and suggested a formal work session; President Naylor called for scheduling a work session “as quick as possible” to examine whether the PURA resolution is sufficient or whether council ratification is required. “If anything comes up, that's what a work session is about — you are able to ask questions of the mayor, the chief of staff, your attorney, amongst each other,” Naylor said.
Several councilors noted PURA board members and bond counsel were present at the PURA meeting. Councilor Flores said he had asked PURA for a written legal opinion from bond counsel Benedetti and was awaiting it. Other councilors said PURA has broad authority but stressed the council needs to understand how this purchase fits the district plan and whether it targets blight, the stated legal justification used in some out-of-district expenditures.
The discussion concluded with council members asking staff to set a work session to review the Stein property purchase, the legal opinion(s) available, and the relationship of the acquisition to the TIF district’s stated plan and prior uses of funds. No formal city council action was taken on the purchase during the work session.
