Timnath, county butt heads

By Dan MacArthur
Timnath Correspondent

Weary of constantly "begging" for capital improvement dollars, the Timnath town board took matters into its own hands by voting to create an urban renewal authority.

The URA would enable the town to retain tens of millions of dollars over the next 25 years. This so-called tax-increment financing would be used to pay for an estimated $87 million in road, bridge and drainage improvements. The additional property taxes generated by expected development otherwise would have gone to the county, school district and other local governments.

"We as a town need to take control of our future," said Trustee Joe Hancock. "I just think it's a smart choice for Timnath."

The board on Dec. 15 voted 4-1 to create the URA, with Trustee Tim Gaines dissenting. He protested the effort as a greedy grab exploiting the URA process to finance Timnath's wants rather than its needs. "The generous donations from developers would satisfy our needs," Gaines insisted.

Larimer County Commissioner Kathay Rennels and county manager Frank Lancaster also strongly objected to formation of the URA. They said "conservative" estimates showed that the county would lose at least $25 million in tax revenues over its duration. The Poudre School District, they added, would lose at least $75 million that instead would have to come from the state.

Rennels said the county already has tremendous unfunded needs for roads, law enforcement and health and human services. She said the funding shortfall would only grow deeper without additional revenue from new development that creates an even greater need for such services.

"The rest of the county is already subsidizing the growth in Timnath. This is just taking it further," said Lancaster. He said if every municipality similarly designated most of the property within its boundaries as a URA, the county would go broke.

"If we can't recoup any cost of that growth, I don't know how we can provide the services you demand," Lancaster said.

Trustee Charlie Snider took offense at their remarks. "I feel like I was threatened," he objected. Rennels later dismissed the charge, saying, "This is their town and their decision."

Snider also rejected their suggestion that the board delay adoption of the URA to assess whether some accommodation could be reached with the county and school district. After the URA is adopted, he said, the town still could discuss sharing those new revenues if it wishes.

"I think we have everything to lose by postponing a decision," Snider said, suggesting that the board should act now before the state legislature can make any changes in the URA legislation.

State senators Bob Bacon and Steve Johnson in later interviews said they will indeed introduce legislation this year limiting the use of URAs. They said their effort was sparked in part by Timnath's action, as well as Loveland's designation of 1,300 acres of farmland in the high-end Centerra project as a URA. (See related story on page 7.)

"Don't pity them too much. Pity them a little," Timnath planning commission chairman Raymond Wright said of the county. "We're the ones to be pitied and I'm tired of it."

"I don't want to go hat in hand saying, 'Please sir, I want to have another bowl of soup,'" said fellow planning commissioner Danny Byerly.

The only other strong objection was voiced by longtime Timnath volunteer firefighter Mike McBride, who said, "This doesn't set well. It seems to me you're trying to take a free ride on somebody else's back."

But Trustee John Fusaro insisted the action was justified because, "it's come to the point that we have tremendous needs."

"I think we need to do this," he continued. "When you go ahead and do something like this, it gives you a little clout."

Despite the board's expressed willingness to consider sharing a portion of the tax revenues it can now keep, Rennels later said, "We have to assume those dollars are gone."

The exact amount of money available to Timnath cannot yet be accurately calculated because there are too many unknowns about how the land surrounding the town will be developed during the next 25 years.

To qualify for URA designation, the town must meet at least four or five of the 11 standards for being "blighted." Among them are an inadequate street layout, unusual topography, potential danger to life and property presented by fire or other causes and unsanitary or unsafe conditions.

Lancaster protested that the standards were so broad and vague, however, that "I could define any piece of land in Larimer County as blight." But Mayor Donna Benson asserted that Timnath "clearly meets the criteria."