HomeMy WebLinkAboutA013 - Letter from City Attorney dated September 23, 2011 - Minimum Assessment Agreement a
City Attorney's Office
515 Clark Avenue, P. O. Box 811
Caring People Ames, IA 50010
Quality Program Phone: 515-239-5146 •Fax: 515-239-5142
rvice Exceptional Se
September 23,2011
Honorable Ann H. Campbell,Mayor,
and Members of the Ames City Council
Re: Minimum Assessment Agreement for Ames Community Development Park,4`h Addition
Dear Mayor Campbell and Members of the Council:
In 2009 the City established an urban renewal area and created a tax increment finance(TIF)district for
an urban renewal project on South Bell Avenue. The City then entered into a development agreement
with Dayton Park,LLC, to facilitate the developer's project to construct and market industrial buildings at
below-market cost. The project is located in the Ames Community Development Park Subdivision,4`h
Addition.
Under the terms of the 2009 development agreement with Dayton Park, the cost of constructing and
financing the public improvements was to be abated by the increment in property taxes based on the
progress in the project. The developer agreed to build speculative buildings of at least 10,000 square feet
and with a taxable value of at least$350,000 on lots that are 1.5 acres or less. The development
agreement also provided that the parties would enter into a minimum assessment agreement for the larger
lots. The minimum assessment would be place a taxable value for buildings of at least$266,000 for each
acre of each lot greater than 1.5 acres in size.
The attached minimum assessment agreement is drafted in accordance with Iowa Code Chapter 403,
providing for urban renewal projects, and it incorporates the terms provided for in the development
agreement between the City and Dayton Park. Additionally,the minimum assessment agreement includes
a certification by the City Assessor that the actual value assigned to building improvements,exclusive of
land,will not be less than $266,000 per acre. The minimum assessment agreement will terminate once
the debt issued by the City to pay for the construction of the public improvements at the project site is
paid off.
The minimum assessment has been reviewed and approved by the City Assessor and by Dean Hunziker as
manager of Dayton Park,LLC. I recommend approval.
You truly,
ouglas R. Marek
City Attorney
c: Greg Lynch,Duane Pitcher