City finishing details on Hohl deal

Carson City supervisors delayed a vote until their next meeting on a $4.8 million incentive for auto dealer Michael Hohl so the city could work out details of the agreement, city staff said.

Michael Hohl would keep his three auto dealerships and RV center in Carson City under the agreement that could be approved Dec. 18. The $4.8 million incentive would also help Hohl build a new location for his Honda and Subaru dealerships on South Carson Street.

It could be paid for through taxes raised from the new location, but, under the agreement, the city also could sell bonds to raise money.

Supervisors were going to vote on the deal Thursday, but city staff want to make sure the language was written clearly enough to allow the city to sell bonds if needed, City Manager Larry Werner said.

Staff is also looking at funding the deal through the redevelopment authority, he said. The authority collects money through part of the property taxes from the downtown and south side redevelopment zones.

Federal tax laws are complicated, and the city needs to make sure it can get tax-exempt status if it chooses to sell bonds, said Economic Development Manager Joe McCarthy.

The city would prefer to use money from the redevelopment fund, however, he said, so "redevelopment pays for itself."

The city is close to finishing the deal with Hohl soon, he said, and it should be ready for the next supervisors meeting.

Hohl said he is "very comfortable" with the agreement and he and the city are simply reviewing final details.

"We're moving forward with building stores in Carson City," he said.

The city's other major auto dealer, Dick Campagni, will keep his three dealerships in Carson City for 20 years under a $3.6 million incentive agreement approved in November. It was designed to help him build a new location on South Carson Street for his Toyota-Scion dealership.

The agreement with Hohl will allow the city to use $4.8 million that it had set aside for a deal with Hohl instead to help handle possible budget shortfalls over the next few years.

Supervisors decided in 2005 to try to reach agreements with the auto dealers because of the city's heavy reliance on sales taxes. Auto sales have slumped in the city this year but still make up close to a third of sales taxes through about $200 million in annual sales.

- Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.