Over 30 Edgecomb residents attended a contentious public hearing on a proposed amendment to the town’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district May 17.
According to the amendment’s statement of purpose, it will “expand the boundary” of the TIF district “to include the land parcels that are the site of the Town’s current fire station and future site of its planned public safety building.” The change will allow the town to use TIF funds to pay for the construction of a proposed new fire station.
According to Maine’s Department of Economic and Community Development website, TIF is an arrangement that “provides municipalities with a local tool to finance the cost of private development.” Essentially, a developer that a town sees as beneficial to the local economy can receive a break on property taxes with the understanding that the money they save will be invested into their project.
In Edgecomb’s case, property owners within the TIF district, including the Savings Bank of Maine, which owns several properties in the development after foreclosing on mortgages owned by developer Roger Bintliff, split their tax bill 55/45 with Edgecomb. Edgecomb can then use their 45 percent share for “both environmental and economic development,” according to Mathew Eddy.
Eddy, Executive Director of the Eaton Peabody Consulting Group, is advising Edgecomb as they consider the complex changes. “We do a lot of TIFs all over the state,” he said. “We try to bring people through the thought process.” Recently Eddy’s employer has assisted nearby Camden and Freeport with similar efforts.
Eddy told attendees that the possibilities of TIF financing are remarkable. “Ten years ago, Casco was able to expand a TIF district,” he said. Casco successfully used their funds much as Edgecomb plans to, building a new fire station and purchasing multiple emergency vehicles.
The proposal, Eddy said, is “a very simple amendment to the existing TIF” that could enable construction to begin on the much-needed new fire station. “The second floor [of the current station] is closed off… there are roof and structural issues.”
Eddy reminded attendees that, if the town passes the amendment, the town won’t be locked into using the TIF funds for the fire station loan down the road. Instead, the town will merely open “an opportunity to make a decision on an annual basis about how to pay for the fire station.”
Fire Chief Roy Potter spoke in support of the amendment, calling it “an opportunity to keep the property taxes down” and still get the desperately needed fire station.
Byron Johnson, an urban planner and civil and traffic engineer from Edgecomb, said he doesn’t care for the proposal. Other projects, he said, including a pumping station to deal with town sewage, need the TIF money.
“At the very least you’re going to need more money for that pump station… you can’t build half a pump station,” he said.
“I personally am appalled,” he said, in reference to the dilapidation of the fire station, but the TIF, he said, “is specifically for water and sewer.”
Selectmen John Johnson and Jack Sarmanian both had heated exchanges with Byron Johnson.
Byron Johnson pointed out an error in the town’s figures on a handout distributed at the meeting. “You’ve handed out a very rosy prediction here,” he said.
“We made a mistake… we’re fixing it,” Selectman Chair John Johnson replied.
“It hasn’t been fixed yet,” Byron Johnson said.
Later, Sarmanian stood to deliver a passionate defense of the necessity for a fire station. He noted that, lacking a highway department, Edgecomb relies on the department for a wide array of duties, including the clearing of branches after storms. He called the TIF an “opportunity.”
“You’re using scare tactics,” Byron Johnson said.
“I’m using reality. How dare you say scare tactics?” Sarmanian said.
Discord notwithstanding, several residents, including Selectman Johnson, repeated Byron Johnson’s basic sentiment. Selectman Johnson said a developer has shown interest in a pair of properties on Rt. 1, including a vacant, multi-unit retail building. The developer can’t do it, he said, without a sewer.
“We’ve looked at getting a grant for [the pumping station],” said John Johnson. “I want to build a fire station, I also want to build a pumping station.” He said he would prefer to pay for the fire station out of the town’s general fund.
Erin Cooperrider is the Development Director for Community Housing of Maine, a non-profit organization and general partner in the Townhouses of Davis Island ownership group, an affordable housing complex on Rt. 1. Cooperrider said she shares the selectman’s concerns.
“Long term… there needs to be a pumping station that the town owns,” she said.
Jarryl Larson, a member of the Edgecomb Planning Board, concurs. While “flexibility is good,” she said, “I’m questioning only the budgetary process for it. There’s been one serious [sewer] breakdown already.”
If Eddy’s figures are correct, however, there may be no need to choose. After the meeting, Eddy said that even while Edgecomb makes payments on a $675,000 loan for the fire station, the town can use TIF funds to finance nearly the same amount again – about $650,000; “more than enough” to go around.
Edgecomb voters will decide the fate of the amendment at their annual town meeting, Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Edgecomb Eddy School.
