More Local

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
• Former Marine to serve two years in jail for killing Albuquerque robber
• Wilson-Pearce battle for U.S. Senate exemplifies party's disparity

MOST RECENT TRIB STORIES

• ABQTrib.com to remain available
  08:48 a.m., February 25, 2008
• Congressman is indicted
  08:37 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Series of attacks target Green Zone
  08:36 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Iran is defying U.N., agency says
  08:35 a.m., February 23, 2008
• Waterboarding approval probed
  08:34 a.m., February 23, 2008

TRIB IN THE BLOGOSPHERE*

• Ty Murray Invitational thrills fans in Albuquerque
• Is Rome Burning?
• Ominous Skies
• The Road to Invalidation
• Albuquerque company participates in “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”

*Note: The Tribune does not create and is not responsible for the blogosphere's headlines and stories. These links to blogs talking about ABQTrib.com are automatically generated. Use them at your own risk.

STORY TOOLS

• E-mail story
• Comments
• iPod friendly
• Printer friendly

SHARE THIS STORY [?]

City Councilor Michael Cadigan is willing to stray from his convictions and allow developers to recoup some city tax dollars for certain projects.

But there's a catch.

They have to earn it.

The West Side councilor has authored a new version of his legislation outlining guidelines for establishing Tax Increment Development Districts, a funding plan in which land developers retain a percentage of property and gross receipts taxes collected in the development area to pay for streets, utilities and sidewalks.

In the revision, developers can earn a higher percentage of the tax revenue by reaching certain criteria, such as high-wage jobs and a pledge to dedicate land for schools.

"The diversion of taxes to your TIDD would be a function of how many of those criteria you meet," Cadigan is telling developers.

SunCal Cos., the Irvine, Calif., developer that owns 55,000 acres, mostly in an unincorporated portion of Bernalillo County on the West Side, wants a TIDD similar to one the council granted in December to the massive Mesa del Sol development in southeast Albuquerque. In that case, Forest City Covington retains 67 percent of the gross receipts and property taxes generated there for use on infrastructure.

Cadigan initially sponsored a bill prohibiting TIDDs in undeveloped greenfields - areas not receiving city water service - out of his belief that the tax districts should be used only for blighted areas in need of development. But he said he wouldn't receive enough votes to pass the bill, so he sought compromise.

A revised bill would have allowed TIDDs in greenfields so long as the development met certain criteria, such as providing low-income housing, allowing a percentage of local businesses there and providing for schools.

In the latest version, a development can be eligible for a TIDD so long as its revenues exceed the city's costs for providing services to the area - but then, they would get only 20 percent of the tax revenue.

The bill allows the development to reach the maximum of 75 percent of the tax revenue it generates, but only by reaching various criteria.

For example, the TIDD can be allocated another 15 percent of tax revenue if the majority of the jobs created there are high-wage jobs. It can gain another 10 percent if the development incorporates a certain percentage of affordable housing.

It allows more gains for including things such as land and money for schools, and for being within the city limits or annexed into the city prior to the TIDD being approved.

Many of the items in Cadigan's bill, such as affordable housing and transit-oriented development, are elements already being incorporated SunCal's initial plans.

"They have said they're willing to do it," Cadigan said. "The question is, are they willing to be obligated to do it?"

Joe Aguirre, a SunCal spokesman, said the company is still evaluating Cadigan's proposal. But he said the company believes the existing TIDD ordinance, which allows the city to evaluate each project on a case-by-case basis, already provides "a good structure."

Lynne Anderson, president of the New Mexico chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, said developers are often deterred from developing large tracts of land due to the high infrastructure costs. TIDDs make that work more tenable.

The alternative, she said, is that those large tracts could be developed piecemeal, something she fears will happen if SunCal isn't granted a TIDD.

"We consider this legislation pretty much unusable," Anderson said. "It's got so many restrictions on it that it will make it almost impossible to make economic sense for anybody."

Cadigan said his bill won't likely see a City Council vote until December. A group of stakeholders, ranging from the building community to public policy groups, will meet Thursday to discuss the proposed legislation.

Eric Griego, a former city councilor who is now executive director of Voices for Children, said he opposes TIDDs in greenfield areas. The purpose of such legislation, he said, is to offer incentives to developing in blighted, urbanized areas.

"To use this legislation for essentially fringe development, especially in the case of SunCal, goes against what it's meant to be used for," Griego said. But, "if municipalities and counties decide to grant this, they ought to do what Cadigan is proposing."