By Meredith Crawford, Courier Associate
Editor:
Those who turned out
for a Special Town Meeting in September to approve North
Haven’s application for a $3.15-million Tax Incremental Financing
(TIF) grant will undoubtedly approve of the grant’s revised–and significantly
lower–price tag of $2.3 million.
The Board of
Selectmen (BOS) last week empowered First Selectman Janet McCarty to act on
behalf of North Haven to apply for the state
grant through the Connecticut Brownfields Redevelopment Authority. The monies
will then be used to reimburse Eclipse Development for a portion of the costs
of remediating the 300 Universal
Drive North property known as North Haven Commons.
The BOS was not
required to bring the TIF application approval issue before a town meeting for
a second time as the figure had decreased.
Town Attorney John
Parese explained that the new figure was reached after reconsidering three
variables: the projected increase in taxes due to the town from the Commons,
the interest rate of the repayment, and the term of the repayment.
The Town of North Haven will pay back
the loan to the state at a six-percent interest rate over 15 years using tax
monies derived from the real estate taxes paid by North Haven Commons. North Haven will pay the state $237,500 per year. This
figure represents about half of North Haven Commons’ estimated real estate
taxes due to the town.
During the first
year, there will be a $211,000 incremental tax increase coming from the
Commons–$26,000 less than in the ensuing years because full build out was not
reached.
Parese told the BOS
that these figures assume a constant mil rate. He also said the figures for the
first year of the TIF grant were reached using the 2007-2008 Grand List; the
figures for the second year were based on the 2008-2009 Grand List.
“After year two we
expect to be fully operational,” as a significant amount of construction still
to be finished will be done, said Parese, adding that the tax benefit to the
town will kick in at that point.
Earlier this fall,
McCarty spoke about the tax boon North Haven Commons represents for the town.
“At the minimum,
just the buildings–occupied or not–just having the mall finished will increase
our taxes by $475,000–just if it’s vacant,” said McCarty. “Then we tax personal
property, but that isn’t in the calculation.
Eclipse Development
Principal Doug Gray recently announced that the majority of North Haven
Commons’ tenants would be in place by the first quarter of 2009. Currently,
Best Buy, Red Lobster, and Olive Garden are open for business.
-Courier Staff
Writer Sean Fogarty contributed to this article