Wednesday, Apr. 26, 2023–5:07 p.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
After a brief delay in discussions regarding tax allocation district funding for the Martha Berry Boulevard and North Broad Street corridors, the City of Rome is once again set to move forward, but with different plans for each area.
The vision for the Martha Berry corridor, which is 43 parcels from West Ninth Street to just south of Harbin Clinic, is a Tax Allocation District that would be similar to the one on West Third Street.
Meanwhile, the North Broad Corridor, with 162 parcels from CVS on Turner McCall, northward to North Drive, and east to Gibbons Street, would be a redevelopment area where TADs can be applied for and created.
“It’s a much larger, much more complex, and much more difficult for city staff to keep track of and administer,” said Rome City Manager Sammy Rich during Wednesday’s Rome Community Redevelopment Committee meeting.
There is also the issue of setting up a base year value for all those parcels under one TAD district.
“Let’s say you tear something down or something moves out, then your value declines,” Rich added. “That creates some other complicating factors for us from the accounting side. By doing the TAD as-you-go approach, for lack of a better phrase, I think we have a better opportunity. We’re not missing out on anything. We still have the same TAD policy and procedure.”
Rich brought up the proposed Home2 Suites by Hilton in the Five Points area, which is making its way through the process of getting variances from the Rome-Floyd County Board of Adjustments. The board of adjustments recently denied the variance requests, based mostly on the proposed increase in building height from 45 feet to 64 feet, thus allowing five stories and another 24 rooms. However, the applicant can present a reworked proposal at the next available opportunity.
“Assuming that gets the prerequisite approvals from the board of adjustments, they would be the first TAD application,” Rich said. “What we have theorized now, assuming we get an application out of that, is our redevelopment plan could be amended to draw multiple TAD projects within.”
Under a TAD, any increase in property taxes stemming from improvements would be funneled back into the project for a set number of years. The taxing entities would have to agree to forgo the money.
Some other notable properties in the North Rome redevelopment area would include the former O’Neill Manufacturing site, Gibbons Street, and the former Jennings Funeral Home property, which is expected to undergo a transition into condominiums.
