Title
Consider a resolution authorizing the City of Rock Hill, South Carolina, to publish a notice of public hearing relating to the adoption of a Second Amended Downtown Redevelopment Plan; authorizing the City to provide notice of the second amended plan to York County, South Carolina and Rock Hill School District No. 3 of York County, South Carolina; and other matters related thereto.
Strategic Goals: 1) Promote public investment and reinvestment in the Downtown area; 2) Provide support for public and private investment in the Downtown area; 3) Examine infrastructure needs in the downtown and development plans for meeting those needs; 4) Establish an identity for Downtown as a destination.
Body
In December 1988, the City of Rock Hill adopted the Downtown Redevelopment Plan and authorized the sale of Tax Increment Bonds in an amount up to $7 million to finance public improvements within the 106.5 acre redevelopment area. In September 1991 the Downtown Redevelopment Plan was amended, changing the boundaries and reducing the size of Redevelopment Project Area to 35.11 acres in order to better reflect the areas where the concentration of public improvements were planned. In 1993 and 2007 the City of Rock Hill issued $1.335 million and $1.650 million respectively in TIF Bonds to fund redevelopment projects in the Original Downtown Redevelopment Area. The 1988 Redevelopment Plan and the 1991 Amended Plan are collectively referred to as the “Original Downtown Redevelopment Plan”.
In March 2004 the City adopted an Amended Downtown Redevelopment Plan (the “Amended Downtown/Textile Corridor Redevelopment Plan”). This amended plan added the area known as the Textile Corridor to the Redevelopment Area; increased the size of the redevelopment area by 159.06 acres; authorized the issuance of up to $40 million in Tax Increment Bonds to finance public improvements within the redevelopment area; and, extended the duration of the Amended Downtown Redevelopment Plan until December, 2029. In 2008, the City issued $2.750 million in TIF Bonds (the “2008 Textile Corridor TIF Bonds”) to undertake public improvements in the Textile Corridor Redevelopment Project Area. In 2011, the City issued $6.50 million in TIF Bonds to (i) refund the outstanding principal ($2.750 million) of the 2008 Textile Corridor TIF Bonds, and (ii) undertake additional public improvements in the Textile Corridor Redevelopment Project Area.
At this time, the City is proposing a second amendment to the Original Downtown Redevelopment Plan (the “Second Amended Downtown Redevelopment Plan”). The Second Amended Downtown Redevelopment Plan: adds properties in the Downtown East project area and properties on West Main Street in the Black Street Market area increasing the size of the Original Downtown Redevelopment Project Area by 10.3 acres; extends the duration of the redevelopment plan (solely with respect to the Expanded Downtown Redevelopment Project Area, and not the Textile Corridor Redevelopment Project Area) to December 31, 2041; adds certain redevelopment projects to be undertaken in the Expanded Downtown Redevelopment Project Area; and authorizes the issuance of TIF Bonds in the principal amount of not exceeding $20,000,000 (exclusive of refunding TIF Bonds, and exclusive of and in addition to the $40,000,000 principal amount of TIF Bonds authorized in connection with the Amended Downtown/Textile Corridor Redevelopment Plan for the Textile Corridor Redevelopment Project Area) to defray a portion of the costs of the Expanded Downtown Redevelopment Project Area Projects, such TIF Bonds to have a maturity of no later than the earlier of 25 years from their date of issuance or December 31, 2041.
The Original Downtown Redevelopment Plan and the Amended Downtown/Textile Corridor Redevelopment Plan were adopted by City Council of the City of Rock Hill in accordance with Title 31, Chapter 6 of the South Carolina Code (the “TIF Law”). The Original Downtown Redevelopment Plan, with respect to the Original Downtown Redevelopment Project Area, is set to expire on June 30, 2014, and the Amended Downtown/Textile Corridor Redevelopment Plan, with respect to the Textile Corridor Redevelopment Project Area, is set to expire on December 13, 2029. Pursuant to this Second Amended Downtown Redevelopment Plan, the Expanded Downtown Redevelopment Project Area will remain designated as a redevelopment project area under the TIF Law through December 31, 2041.
The City will provide notice of its intent to adopt this Second Amended Downtown Redevelopment Plan to the County and the School District in accordance with the TIF Law. Incremental real property tax revenues (“TIF Revenues”) in the Expanded Downtown Redevelopment Project Area attributable to millage levied by or on behalf of the County and the School District will only be available to pay TIF Bonds and redevelopment project costs in connection with this Second Amended Downtown Redevelopment Plan to the extent that the County and the School District consent thereto in the manner provided by the TIF Law. Without such consent, only TIF Revenues attributable to millage levied by the City in the Expanded Downtown Redevelopment Project Area will be available to pay TIF Bonds and redevelopment project costs in connection with this Second Amended Downtown Redevelopment Plan
City Council is asked to adopt a resolution authorizing publication of a notice of public hearing relating to adoption of the Second Amended Downtown Redevelopment Plan and authorizing the City to provide notice of the Seconded Amended Plan to York County and Rock Hill School District No. 3. These are procedural steps required under South Carolina State law. By adopting this resolution, the City is not approving the second amendment to the Redevelopment Plan. The Second Amended Downtown Redevelopment Plan will be presented to City Council for discussion and approval at a later date.