‘Economic development’. It’s more complicated than it sounds, although some people might want you to think it’s a simple matter.
And the term: ‘urban blight’. Some people might want you to think it means, “Any property awaiting development.”
But before we dig into the complications of defining ‘blight’ and ‘economic development’ in Pagosa Springs, I’d like to express my appreciation. On Friday, May 31, Pagosa Springs Town Manager Andrea Phillips facilitated an unusual, impromptu political discussion at Town Hall. Two out-of-town experts had been invited to a Town Council work session: Boulder CO attorney Paul Benedetti and Colorado Springs economic analyst Mike Anderson.
Mr. Benedetti and Mr. Anderson have been hired by David Dronet, the new managing partner of the Springs Resort, to help bring about, and justify, a new layer of bureaucratic government here in Pagosa Springs, called an “Urban Renewal Authority.”
To judge by the conversation last Friday, both of these gentlemen have considerable experience with government agencies, and with ‘Urban Renewal Authorities.’
And with “urban blight.”
To judge from the conversation on Friday, this new local governmental district could provide considerable financial benefits for the owners of the Springs Resort, in the form of local tax subsidies. And it sounds like the Town Council could, if they wished, create this new layer of government subsidies without needing a vote of the taxpayers.
It was perhaps fortuitous that Ms. Phillips, Mr. Benedetti and Mr. Anderson attended the 2pm work session — and that not a single Town Council member showed up. The only others who attended the informational meeting were Town Planning Director James Dickhoff, Chamber of Commerce Director Mary Jo Coulehan, reporter Randi Pierce from the weekly SUN newspaper, and two writers from the Pagosa Daily Post: Cynda Green and myself.
The work session had been scheduled specifically so that the two experts — Mr. Benedetti and Mr. Anderson — could answer questions the Town Council members might have about a potential “Urban Renewal Authority.” But as mentioned, none of the Council showed up. (The Council had, however, discussed this very same topic at a previous work session the evening of May 30, less than 24 hours earlier. I had not attended that previous work session.)
So Ms. Phillips asked the two guests if they would be willing to field questions from the five people in the audience, and the two men were amenable to that suggestion.
For that opportunity, I am grateful.
Mr. Benedetti kicked things off with an overview of “Urban Renewal Authorities” as they exist here in Colorado, based on Colorado Revised Statutes 31-25-101 et seq. — otherwise known as the Urban Renewal Law.
Along the way, we learned a bit about ‘Tax Increment Financing.’ Some Daily Post readers might remember a controversial plan, back in 2016, to create a ‘Downtown Development Authority’ (DDA) which could have likewise made use of ‘Tax Increment Financing.’ (You can read about that controversy here, and here.) A ‘TIF’ funding scheme not a terribly complicated concept — certainly less complicated than ‘economic development’ — but it helps to listen to expert attorneys like Paul Benedetti, if you want to understand the fine print.
Mr. Benedetti:
“I’m actually representing a private client here. David Dronet is interested in using ‘Urban Renewal’ as a device for financing infrastructure for his proposed expansion, which he says he cannot do unless the Town wants to go along with establishing an Urban Renewal Authority in that area…”
That area, being, a vacant 27-acre tract of land just south of the Springs Resort. Mr. Dronet has entered into a partnership of some kind with the owner of that vacant tract, developer Jack Searle. Mr. Searle and Mr. Dronet have staged a couple of public meetings this year to introduce their development ideas to the public — and ostensibly, to get input from the community. (You can read about last February’s public meeting here.)
Mr. Dronet would like the boundary of the urban renewal area to include the vacant 27 acres, where he is proposing the construction of a new hotel. Mr. Benedetti apparently wants to help Mr. Dronet with his expansion project, by providing useful information with the Town Council. (Except that the Town Council didn’t show up.)
Mike Anderson, of Anderson Analytics in Colorado Springs, was also representing Mr. Dronet at the May 31 work session. He explained his potential role:
“For the past 10 years, we’ve worked with a number of private developers as well as municipalities — and with Paul — on a number of urban renewal projects. The kind of work we do is mostly economic analysis, economic impact analysis, we do a lot of financial analysis, and our primary role in these kinds of deals is to provide information to both sides, so they can negotiate the best deal they can negotiate…
“We project out the tax increment revenue that’s anticipated to be generated by the project. We look at the economic impact — the direct, the indirect, the induced — on site as well as off site… which a lot of communities are interested in. If we are giving up revenue on-site, what does it mean for the community as a whole? Because there are other benefits; there’s other revenue that’s coming it…”
We understand that certain people in a community benefit from certain types of economic deals. What Mr. Anderson was here suggesting — as so many previous economic analysts have suggested to our Town leaders over the past 30 years — is that, if the Town government will agree to provide substantial taxpayer subsidies to certain business owners and allow them to line their pockets, the community as a whole will ultimately benefit financially.
In particular, when promoting this type of idea to government leaders, consultants generally want to make it obvious that the government, itself, will benefit financially by giving away taxpayer money to a private company. In my experience as an outside observer, previous economic consultants have been able to convince our government leaders that such is the case — and if we look honestly at the growth of Pagosa Springs over the past 30 years, we can see that this has indeed happened.
Economic development has helped most of our local government bureaucracies grow at a somewhat astounding rate.
Whether the Ordinary Man on the Street has benefited? That’s a different question. And it’s the question that I wanted to pose to Mr. Benedetti and Mr. Anderson.
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.