You will never read this level of subjective journalism in the (Chipmunk Press) Trail Gazette, with EPURA scrambling to renew itself we read this article in the Coloradoan and thought it timely. Enjoy.
The annual ritual of paying property taxes is enough to make most property owners cringe.
But the distribution of those taxes can be painful for taxing entities as well when they don’t receive the revenue they expect.
The growing popularity of using urban renewal areas, or URAs, and their primary method of generating revenue — tax increment financing — as redevelopment tools in cities is hitting other governmental entities in their pocketbooks.
But the distribution of those taxes can be painful for taxing entities as well when they don’t receive the revenue they expect.
The growing popularity of using urban renewal areas, or URAs, and their primary method of generating revenue — tax increment financing — as redevelopment tools in cities is hitting other governmental entities in their pocketbooks.
Growth and increased property values do not translate to in-creased tax revenue for those entities. The additional dollars are siphoned off through tax increment financing, or TIF, to urban renewal authorities to build public improvements such as roads and other infrastructure.Affected governments don’t “lose” money through the arrangement, but they don’t see what would be coming their way under normal circumstances, said Larimer County Manger Frank Lancaster.At the same time, they have to deal with the increased demand for services that come with higher populations and urban development.“We end up having to do without,” Lancaster said. “We have to tighten our belts another notch and look for ways to decrease expenses.”In 2003, Larimer County had three TIF areas; the Fort Collins Downtown Development Authority, the Estes Park Urban Renewal Authority and the Loveland Urban Renewal Authority, which focused its work on downtown Loveland.Combined, the entities received $897,872 that would have gone to county coffers. In 2006, the county had seven TIF authorities — including the U.S. 34/Crossroads Renewal Plan that’s part of the massive Centerra project in Loveland.Combined, the areas took more than $2.1 million in tax revenue that would have gone to the county. This year’s total is likely to exceed $3 million, said Bob Keister, county budget manager.“That’s money that could have gone to something else,” Keister said. “As a county, we rely on property taxes to pay for public services. We don’t have a lot of other options.”School districts with their high property tax mill levies lose out on the largest sums of money. For 2006 taxes, Poudre School District did not receive more than $2.6 million, according to public records.School districts are “backfilled” by the state for lost revenue through the complex mechanisms of the School Finance Act, said Dave Montoya, budget manager for PSD.See Wednesday’s Coloradoan and check out www.coloradoan.com on Wednesday for the entire story. Give and takeBelow are selected local taxing entities and property tax revenue for 2006 they will not receive because of tax-increment-financing authorities: Larimer County:n $2,141,843 Poudre School District: $2,267,865*nn Thompson School District: $1,679,141* Park (Estes Park) R-3 Schooln District: $396,265* Northern Colorado Water Conservancy District:n $95,576* School districts are backfilled by the state for revenue lost to TIF entitiesBelow are Larimer County tax-increment-financing entities and property tax revenue they’ll collect for 2006. The amounts do not include sales taxes or other revenue sources: Timnath Urban Renewaln Authority: $254,087 Fort Collins Downtown Development Authority:n $3,757,725 North College Urban Renewal Authority:n $112,480 Estes Park Urban Renewal Authority: $858,839nn U.S. 34/Crossroads Corridor Re-newal Plan: $4,361,290
