The Mitchell Planning Commission recommended approval Monday of a tax increment financing district, or "TIF" district, to help fund the construction of a proposed $2 million conference center.
The TIF plan will now go to the City Council. If approved, it would supply about half the funding to build the conference center.
The TIF plan calls for the city to issue $2 million in bonds to finance the construction of the center, which would be city-owned and leased to a private management group. New property taxes in the TIF district would then be captured over 20 or fewer years to help pay off the bonds.
Six lots in the Highland Business Park would be included in the TIF district. The lots include the existing Hampton Inn, Highland Travel Plaza and Highland Mall; the Ruby Tuesday restaurant, which is under construction; the proposed conference center; and a proposed new Comfort Inn and Suites that would be privately built.
The rest of the bond payments would come from a Business Improvement District, or BID, consisting of two hotels controlled by the conference center developers and the new hotel they hope to build. Each of the three hotels would pay a $2-per-room tax. The BID proposal also will be considered by the City Council, separately from the TIF proposal.
ADVERTISEMENT
The local developers behind the project are Jerry Thomsen and Jeff Krall. The proposed conference center and hotel would adjoin the existing Hampton Inn, near the southeast corner of the city's east interstate interchange.
The conference center would be 12,000 to 14,000 square feet and would cater to conferences of 200 to 300 people. It would potentially seat up to 600 for banquet-style events.
Thomsen and Krall also are asking the city to appropriate $150,000 to equip the conference center. The city could recoup its $150,000 in the future by continuing to collect the BID taxes after the TIF bonds are paid off.
