Staff member says free cash will bridge Tri County project as developers wait on rent-control vote

A staff member told the council the town is temporarily covering the Tri County construction project with free cash and expects to absorb the cost until new growth increases revenue.

The staff member said the town runs a monthly financial review with the collector, treasurer, town accountant and assessor to track receipts and trends and to identify when large liens close and funds will flow to free cash. "We get a monthly report that I run over with the collector treasurer, the town accountant, and the assessor," they said.

The staff member described the Tri County project as being paid for from free cash through what they called a "bridging strategy," rather than being placed on the tax rolls as a debt exclusion. "We've been able to absorb that through the free cash in a what I called to the council a bridging strategy to get Tri County paid for from free cash until we have enough new growth where it would be able to be absorbed and handled by the budget," the staff member said.

The speaker said a recently approved $10,000 measure will fund a marketing plan intended to promote the town's new multi-use overlay district and attract economic development. "It was one of the $10,000 measures that I put before the council this past week and got approved to develop a marketing plan to help us spur interest and activity around the multi-use overlay and help drive economic development," the staff member said.

On the pace and makeup of new development, the staff member told the economic development subcommittee that most new growth currently is housing rather than commercial or industrial construction. "Most of our new growth that we're seeing is housing," the staff member testified, adding that the town would like to see more commercial projects but that the market is "hard to fill right now."

The staff member also said developers are delaying decisions while they await the outcome of a potential rent-control measure on the fall ballot. "The rent control initiative that would potentially be on the ballot this fall is something we're seeing developers watch and they're holding off," the staff member said.

Explaining the fiscal importance of new growth, the speaker said: "It is the only item that makes the levy go higher outside of 2 and a2," noting assessors use permit activity and other indicators to estimate how much new growth will affect the levy. The staff member concluded that the town expects some new growth but "not as much as we'd seen previously."

The town is monitoring several market signals, including activity at the local mall, and will use the marketing plan and other tools to try to encourage commercial and mixed-use development. Staff said they will continue monthly tracking of receipts and report back as permit activity and new growth data become available.