Commissioners to weigh developer's plan
By Steve Herring
Published in News on November 21, 2017 5:50 AM
Wayne County residents this morning will have the opportunity to comment on a proposal to allow the county to provide tax incentives to a developer.
A second public hearing will be held on leasing space at the Wayne Executive Jetport for at least two hangars for a period of 20 years, with options to renew for additional years.
The hearings will begin at 9:15 a.m. in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the Wayne County Courthouse Annex.
The meeting will start at 8 a.m. with an agenda briefing followed by the formal session at 9 a.m.
The tax incentive also was on the Goldsboro City Council's Monday agenda.
The tax break would be through an Economic Development Historical Preservation and Urban Redevelopment Agreement between Goldsboro, county of and a developer.
The name of the developer has not yet been announced.
Completion of the project will bring 68,000 square feet of built space back into production, creating approximately 55 market-rate apartments and more than 12,000 square feet of commercial space within the downtown, Wayne County Manager George Wood said in a memo to commissioners.
The company plans to use federal and state historic preservation credits to help pay for a $10.5 million investment to rehab the First National Bank and adjoining building.
The project also includes the four buildings making up the county's old Senior Center that the county gave the city, along with $60,000 to fix the roof.
The property addresses are 200/202 E. Walnut St.; 204 E. Walnut St.; 206 E. Walnut St.; 106 S. John St.; 135 W. Walnut St.; and 139 W. Walnut St.
The developer estimates that the properties will appraise at about $7 million after all rehabilitation, as some of the $10.5 million is soft costs, not construction, Wood said in the memo.
State law provides for a 50 percent property tax reduction to any property that received an historic landmark designation, he said
They will be pursuing that designation, Wood said.
Consequently, the estimated taxable value after rehabilitation would be $3.5 million not $7 million, he said.
All the numbers used in the cost-benefit analysis are based on the $3.5 million figure.
Goldsboro already has a Historic Properties Commission, and has established a Historic District, which contains all of these properties, Wood said.
The proposed percent of taxes granted to the developer from both the city and county would be:
* Years 1 to 5: 90 percent.
* Year 6: 75 percent.
* Year 7: 60 percent.
* Year 8: 45 percent.
* Year 9: 30 percent.
* Year 10: 15 percent.
The grants from Wayne County would cost the county $156,751.89.
It would take about 14.5 years to recoup that amount from the added valuation of the improvements, Wood said.
"For that, you would help stabilize downtown Goldsboro by redeveloping two of its major buildings," he said. "I want to stress that the grants would come from the increased taxable value of the properties, and would be paid after their taxes were paid each year.
"So, the improvements more than offset the cost of the grant in each year, just as we do with WCDA (Wayne County Development Alliance) industrial incentives."
There would be no grant incentive regarding the city's municipal services district taxes, since they must be paid, Wood said.
Commissioners will consider additional motions.
Public comments will be taken at 9:05 a.m. Speakers will have four minutes to comment on their topic of choice.