The DDA can't provide funding for any new venture wishing to build in the park unless the county board of commissioners first approves.
DDA EYES EXPANSION: Monitor Township, Bay County Agree to Continue Park
January 28, 2017
By: Dave Rogers
There is no economic development project proposed for the Monitor Township Downtown Development Authority, but Bay County is ready in case there is.
The planned "sunset" of the Monitor DDA has been over-ridden by a new 10-year agreement, bolstered by a most unusual move -- voluntary agreement by the 30 businesses in the Valley Center Technology Park to a special winter property tax assessment of two mills.
The DDA can't provide funding for any new venture wishing to build in the park unless the county board of commissioners first approves.
Those voluntarily agreed upon winter taxes, "keeping the DDA alive," as a county news release states, means there will be "no loss of revenue or cost to the county and all other taxing entities."
The Monitor Township Board of Trustees and the Bay County Board of Commissioners each met with attorney Kevin Kilby, of McGraw Morris, Saginaw, in November and agreed not to sunset the DDA by the end of last year. Both boards also voted to approve the new 10-year agreement.
A county news release stated: "With the DDA in danger of dissolving, the 30 business owners in the DDA's district voluntarily agreed to a special assessment of 2 mills on the winter tax roll to keep the DDA alive, which means no loss of revenue or cost to the county and all other taxing entities.
"The new agreement will allow hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue each year to flow back into Bay County. The DDA will maintain a small operating fund and capture tax funds only when there is a development project agreed upon by the DDA, the township, and the county."
Kilby also explained that new technology will allow tax money to flow to the county and other entities like Delta College immediately when tax bills are paid.
"I give all the credit to the Board of Commissioners and the Board of Trustees for seeing the value of it," said new County Executive Jim Barcia.
"I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Commissioners Lutz and Duranczyk for putting together the meeting between myself, the board and the township - that was where the first pieces of this agreement came together," said Bill Bartlett, DDA chairman, adding:
"This is truly is a great partnership between business and government to make things happen."
"Many people worked very hard to reach this agreement and continue to move Bay County forward," said Barcia. "I offer my thanks and gratitude to DDA Chairman Bill Bartlett, to the members of the Bay County Board of Commissioners, and to the new Monitor Township Supervisor Kenneth Malkin, as well as former Supervisor Gary Brandt and Treasurer Sue Pike."
"It's an ideal location," Barcia said of the DDA district. "With the DDA intact, new businesses considering moving to Bay County will have the resources and infrastructure readily available to them. Job creation and increasing our tax base is a top priority for Bay County."
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