Stories indexed with the term ‘calculations’

Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority special board meeting (July 27, 2011): At a special meeting, the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority board passed a resolution stating that it was accepting the general guidance of its legal counsel, Jerry Lax: The DDA does not believe that any redistribution of captured taxes to relevant taxing authorities is required.

At issue is the interpretation of a city ordinance about tax increment finance (TIF) capture in the DDA’s downtown district.

The decision at the special meeting, which was unanimously approved by the nine board members present, came after a closed session with Lax that lasted nearly an hour. The language of the resolution is somewhat vague, citing the city’s ordinance only in general terms and stating that “no redistribution to relevant taxing authorities is required.”

In separate phone interviews with The Chronicle following the meeting, three board members confirmed that the DDA’s position, as expressed in the resolution, is that the city’s ordinance does not require the DDA to redistribute TIF money to other taxing authorities. The DDA’s interpretation would render moot any argument about the method used in calculating that redistribution.

Earlier this year, the DDA had calculated that the city of Ann Arbor – as one of the taxing authorities – was owed $711,767, but the city waived payment of that amount. The DDA did return a total of $473,000 to Washtenaw County, Washtenaw Community College, and the Ann Arbor District Library. The resolution passed at Wednesday’s special meeting is consistent with the DDA’s position that the return of that money was not actually required.

Executives from the library and WCC, in phone interviews with The Chronicle following Wednesday’s meeting, indicated that they’ll be following up with a response to the DDA board’s decision. [Full Story]