Re: Alturas

[bill london <london@moscow.com>]

To those who are tired of the discussion about Alturas park, now is the time to
delete this posting.
To Bill Strand and anyone who is left....
    my responses below....BL

Bill Strand wrote:

> Bill,
>
> Again, I fail to see understand the point you keep trying to make about
> subsidized businesses. First of all, the businesses in Alturas pay the same
> taxes as everybody else in Moscow. Essentially the URA borrowed the money
> (approximately $600,000 if my memory serves me correctly) to put in the
> infrastructure. The tenants' taxes go to pay off that infrastructure. In
> addition, any incremental property taxes for the surrounding area also go to
> pay off the infrastructure. In other words, as Eastside Marketplace value
> has increased, that increased property tax goes to pay off the bond. But the
> amount they were paying BEFORE Alturas continues to go to the city. When the
> bond is completely paid off, the taxes then go into the general coffers. And
> Moscow has infrastructure they would not have had otherwise. There are
> others that are more knowledgeable as to the financing than I, so someone
> correct me if I have this wrong.
>

    I urge anyone who is interested in the Alturas issue to go there now.  Go
east of Tidymans on the Troy Highway and go right into Alturas.  Straight ahead
is a park, certainly the most upscale park in Moscow.  A very nice fountain,
with water bubbling through a basalt column, is located there surrounded with a
well-designed koi pond, an ampitheatre-style park setting and well-maintained
lawns.  That park, plus the top-of-the-line utilities, sidewalks, streets, etc,
is the Alturas infrastructure that the individual companies did NOT pay for.
That is what the taxpayers of Moscow paid for in a very complex scheme that
shifted tax money from the city coffers to underwrite that infrastructure (plus
marketing, etc).   That is all part of the Alturas park "curb appeal."
    Part of that tax financing scheme was to arbitrarily create a tax district.
In that district, a portion of the taxes of all the businesses there would go to
paying off Alturas.  That district, as I understand it, includes all the new
businesses that have moved into Alturas, but it also includes Tidymans, the
Eastside Marketplace and other retail establishments in that area.  The city is
deprived of tax money from all those businesses.  That money is used to pay off
the recently-refinanced bonds for the creation of Alturas.  No matter how it is
packaged, Alturas is supported with tax money.  Whether you call it
private/public cooperation or corporate welfare, the effect is the same.
    Sure, tax money is generated by the businesses that settle at Alturas.  That
is the economic development argument that powers such developments.  Moscow is
not going to abandon Alturas, and I am not suggesting that.  My point is--with
that history in mind--what are we going to do with Alturas now?  (hint: see the
rest of this post below)....BL



>
> Have your taxes gone up or down because of Alturas? There is 2 - 3 million
> dollars of payroll here that wouldn't be here without Alturas (and I speak
> with absolute certainty with that statement). Those people have houses here
> in Moscow and pay property taxes. They support local businesses as well as
> the school system. So where are your numbers Bill? Show us how our taxes
> have increased because of Alturas. But be certain to include ALL the
> factors, not just pick and choose the negative ones.
>
> And where is the subsidy? Can Park Place Plaza offer cheaper space to
> companies because of this? I don't see how considering every business out
> here pays full rates for every foot of land and every gallon of water.
> Pacific Simulation could certainly have found cheaper space in Moscow. But
> we could not have found better. If I company decides to move to Alturas, it
> is NOT because we get a price break for doing it.
>
> I would be genuinely interested in hearing a plan that addresses the
> requirements of the community as you see them. And I am not referring to
> 50,000 foot generalities or sideline complaints about the people that are
> actually doing the work. I'm talking about a real plan that addresses the
> issues of technical businesses that are presently in Moscow/Pullman.
> Everybody seems to describe business development in nice abstract terms.
> Nobody seems to want to talk about the actual companies it affects and the
> individuals it involves. I don't always agree with the tactics that are used
> to accomplish the goals of economic development in Moscow, but tactics are
> often required when proposed strategies are not implemented, fail or are
> just plain unreasonable.

    The relevant issue here is the future of Alturas.
    Alturas was sold to the taxpayers of Moscow as a technology park.  Period.
    I believe that the only way this scheme makes any sense is to keep to that
original goal.
    The taxpayers of Moscow (in my opinion) do not want to build and support a
professional mall, filled with offices for lawyers, accountants, stock brokers,
etc.  It makes more sense to keep those businesses downtown, in
privately-financed professional office buildings like the one the grain growers
are planning at Sixth and Jackson.  It makes no sense to fill Alturas with those
kinds of offices.
    Sure, it would "solve" the Alturas problem (the fact that the original
timeline failed, and the first phase of the park is not yet filled).  But it
would create its own problem: what do we do with the next legitimate high-tech
business that wants a place to live.  Do we build a new Alturas?  Do we wave
bye-bye as the new business goes elsewhere?
    The forces of economic development here in Moscow seem to want to open
Alturas to ANY business while paying lip service to the original vision for that
park as a magnet for high-tech young companies.  I think that is a big mistake.
BL


>
>
> B.C. Strand
> Technical Operations Manager
>
> Invensys Performance Solutions
> Pacific Simulation
> 1187 Alturas Drive
> Moscow, Idaho 83843