Ballot question 3A (approval of property tax levy) and 3B (approval of debt to finance DDA projects) were sent to those in the DDA boundaries, and not to any other Windsor residents.
?If you?re a resident, a business owner or a property owner within the DDA boundaries, you are eligible to vote,?said Elizabeth Fields, associate planner for the town of Windsor and the town liaison for the DDA.
Fields said the DDA boundaries are from 2nd to 7th streets, the alley south of Main Street up to the railroad tracks.
According to a Q&A sheet from the town of Windsor, ballot question 3A allows an annual levy of up to 5 mills of property tax on properties within the DDA, and the money is typically used for operations of DDA. The DDA recommendation for 2013 is for a levy of one mill, which would generate $4,177 per year within the DDA. Five mills would generate $20,886 per year.
The town of Windsor has committed to giving the DDA an annual sum for five years beginning in 2012 equal to the sales tax collected in the DDA boundaries as of 2010, and an annual sum equal to the new sales tax generated within the DDA above the 2010 amount.
The purpose of the ballot question 3B, according to the town?s Q&A sheet, is to be able to finance future DDA projects included in its plan of development, such as private and public offices, retail/commercial, housing, light manufacturing and transportation-related projects including public utilities, streets and alleyways, sidewalks and pathways, public parking, pedestrian and vehicular circulation system, beautification programs, convention/exhibition facility in conjunction with private development of a downtown hotel and banquet hall.
?Those are projects that were an idea of what they could use that money for. They could use it for other things as well,? Fields said.
DDA voters are being asked if the town of Windsor?s debt should be increased $25 million with a repayment cost of $54.5 million for the purpose of financing the costs of downtown development. By state law, 100 percent of property tax increment with the DDA is collected for a 30-year period to be used to pay for DDA programs and projects. The $25 million in financing capacity allows the DDA to develop future projects and programs, and the $25 million debt ceiling is the maximum amount of debt that can be incurred to finance DDA programs and projects for that period of time without additional approval from voters.
?They have to have a budget approved every year, and the town board also approves their budget every year so they can?t just go out and do whatever they want with this money,? Fields said. ?There are checks and balances every year to make sure what they?re spending the money on is appropriate projects for downtown and will improve downtown. We have to set that limit really high. If we set it as $2 million and we do a big project and we reach that in a couple of years, they?d have to go back and do another election to raise that. In their lifetime, they could spend $10 million on projects. They don?t have to reach that $25 million. It?s that cap that we?re estimating.?
It does not mean that the town?s debt will automatically be increased by $25 million, and since it?s a debt ceiling of $25 million, it may never be reached depending on what DDA projects are approved, the cost of the projects and how much revenue and tax increment is available to pay off the debt.
Windsor residents outside the DDA will not feel a property tax increase, Fields said. As far an impact of property taxes to Windsor residents, there is no impact because the town and the DDA do not levy a property tax to pay the debt.
?Unless you?re in the DDA boundaries, you will not see any change to your taxes, your property. Anything that you?re paying right now will not change at all based on these two elections,? Fields said.
Source: http://www.mywindsornow.com/ARTICLE/20120325/NEWS/703259989/-1/RSS
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