Redevelopment policy could unfreeze spending

Carson City could lift a freeze on redevelopment spending today if it adopts a policy regulating incentives.

Supervisors said in February they needed a spending policy from the business development office before they spent any more money on redevelopment projects.

A proposal by Business Development Director Joe McCarthy calls for detailed incentive applications to be considered quarterly. Supervisors, who also serve as the Redevelopment Authority, have to approve or deny recommended projects within 30 days.

The proposed policy says applications have to prove their projects will benefit the area and cannot be reasonably funded without city help.

"What it does is continue to reaffirm the transparency of the redevelopment process and makes sure the actions of the Redevelopment Authority are consistent and accessible to the public," McCarthy said.

The city would require applications to include a project description, site plans, business projections, financial statements and other information. The projects should create jobs, encourage new businesses and generate other positive effects in the area around it.

The proposed policy puts no limit on how large an incentive can be. The policy also doesn't demand a project has to be in the city's two redevelopment zones, downtown and on the south side of the city.

Finance Director Nick Providenti said in a report that he budgeted $80,000 for business incentives and $200,000 for special event incentives next fiscal year. Incentives and the salaries of the three business development employees will be paid for with the $1.7 million the Redevelopment Authority collects from property taxes in redevelopment zones.

Supervisor Robin Williamson, head of the Redevelopment Authority, praised the policies.

"I think they're great," she said. "They'll allow us to go where we need to go."

Supervisor Pete Livermore said the board needs to make sure the plan has the right checks and balances.

He said some procedures still are too secretive under the plan. The city should have an outside consultant review financial statements, for instance, he said, not just McCarthy.

"We need a much broader spectrum of oversight," he said.

WHAT: Carson City Board of Supervisors meeting

WHEN: 8:30 a.m. today

WHERE: Sierra Room, Carson City Community Center, 851 E. William St.

DETAILS: A copy of the agenda is at www.carson-city.nv.us. Go to the board of supervisors link under the city government tab.