Supervisor wants to repeal redevelopment deal

Supervisor Richard Staub wants the city to reconsider a plan that would take $2 million that was scheduled to help redevelop downtown and the south side of Carson City and give the money to other city projects.

Staub, Supervisor Pete Livermore and Mayor Marv Teixeira, who wrote the plan, said earlier this month that since the city used $2 million from the city's main fund, the general fund, to convince a developer to bring Burlington Coat Factory to the city, $2 million that would have gone to the redevelopment authority over eight years from property taxes should go back to the general fund.

The city needs many improvements that have been delayed because of the slow economy, the mayor said.

But that was "probably the wrong decision to make," Staub said, because it's not clear how the plan would be put into place and, besides that, the general fund will already benefit from sales taxes raised from Burlington.

"It does amount to double dipping," he said.

Staub wants to replace the mayor's plan with a new plan to transfer 10 percent of the money the redevelopment raises each year to the general fund to pay for the police, road maintenance and other things redevelopment projects and activities the general fund pays.

Supervisors will vote on Staub's plan at their meeting Thursday.

This plan will take about $150,000 each year from redevelopment in replacing not only replacing the mayor's plan, Staub said, but also in wiping away the $70,000 redevelopment pays the general fund every year for services.

This will also help make the downtown and south side redevelopment areas mostly independent of each other and self-sufficient, he said.

Money for redevelopment areas is taken from a portion of property taxes in the redevelopment areas.

Teixeira said the plan has "some merit," but, before he knows how he'll vote on it, he's waiting to see how the idea is presented at the Thursday meeting.

"Let's just see how it goes down on the second (of October)," he said

Supervisor Robin Williamson opposed the plan along with Supervisor Shelly Aldean and she said she "appreciate(s) the reconsideration" by Staub but still has some questions about the plan.

Redevelopment supporters will get to talk about their ideas, too, with the dedication of a Laxalt Plaza just south of the Carson Nugget on Thursday night and a presentation at 6 p.m. of ideas of a downtown group Williamson started, the Carson City Downtown Consortium.

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