After a public hearing and follow-up session that lasted slightly more than an hour, the Harrison County Commission approved a resolution to the West Virginia Economic Development Authority to extend the Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District at Charles Point an additional 15 years.

 

The TIF District, which went into effect in 2005, is set to expire in 2035. The resolution shows the county’s support for extending it for 15 years, or until 2050. It still need further approval before becoming reality.

 

Commissioners Susan Thomas and Patsy Trecost voted to support the resolution. Commissioner David Hinkle cast his vote against it.

 

Prior to the vote, the public hearing began that included a three-minute time period to speak. Commission Attorney Trey Simmerman asked for those who opposed the resolution to speak first and those who were in favor of it to speak after those in opposition.

 

Bridgeport Mayor Andy Lang spoke first. He stated the city was “not for or against,” but noted there were many concerns with the TIF District extension for Charles Pointe. Those who questioned it were all elected officials of the City of Bridgeport.

 

TIF is a tool used to fund economic development projects. It allows a designated area such as Charles Pointe to use a portion of the taxes generated from development within that district to support further economic development efforts. In this case, the TIF Dollars do not go to local government entities who would typically receive them.

 

While local governments – in this case the City of Bridgeport, Harrison County, and the Harrison County School Board – do receive taxes from TIF District, all incremental increases from the original tax value goes to the TIF District for items such as infrastructure. Currently, Charles Pointe has the 30-year TIF District that began in 2005. Lang said in a written statement that after 30 years the money should go back to the government agencies prior to the TIF.

 

“These dollars after 30 years will then be sent to the proper government bodies, and in this case the county, county school board, and the city,” Lang, who prefaced his comments that he believed there was limited information given about the process. “These tax dollars are then used to support the new development (created over 30 years).”

 

Lang then said by adding 15 years, the city, county, and school board would now be without the tax dollars for a period of 45 years. While Lang said the city supports the current TIF District as well as others in the city, he was not sure how extending it 15 more years would benefit the region or the city who he said provides “front line government” services to the TIF Districts.

 

The mayor’s statement pointed to concerns that the dollars lost with this extension to the county school system would be $6.6 million, the county itself at $5 million, and the City of Bridgeport at $4 million.

 

With a time limit in place, Lang’s prepared statement was read in its entirety by Council members Harry M. “Hank” Murray and Clayton Rice. Council members Jon Griffith and Don Burton also backed the comments prepared by the mayor.

 

The statement listed numerous concerns the city had with the extension beyond the revenue that would not go to the aforementioned entities. The concerns included a statement saying the TIF bonds were in default and full payments had not been made in years.

 

When the matter switched to those in favor of it, Steve Hebb with the West Virginia Economic Development Authority, read a letter in support of the 15-year extension from WVEDA Executive Director Kris Warner. The letter called Charles Pointe a “model TIF project here in West Virginia.”

 

Mike Jenkins with the Carpenters Union in Bridgeport was in favor of continuing the work. He pointed to the TIF leading to “many, many hours of work for our members.” He also pointed out efforts at the TIF at White Oaks and at the North Central West Virginia Airport being beneficial.

 

The next two speakers were Mike Romano and Jim Cava. Cava and Romano both are members of the Economic Opportunity Development District (EODD) Board of Directors at Charles Pointe.

 

Romano said, based on his calculations, the city has been given $81 million in infrastructure improvements at Charles Pointe. He said no city in the state could afford to install that at the pace that the infrastructure has been done at Charles Pointe.

 

Cava said it is important to continue the TIF for a longer period because the developers of Charles Pointe are assuming the risk with the held of the TIF. He said having someone willing to take the risk will help in future investment by outsiders.

 

After that, several members of Genesis Partners, the developers of Charles Pointe, spoke. Jamie Corton, the managing member of Genesis Partners led off. He talked about the benefits.

 

“Extending the property TIF District at Charles Point will provide a permanent investment solution opportunity benefitting all stakeholders including the county, the city of Bridgeport, bondholders, and the continued development of the district.”

 

Mark Dellana, executive director of development for Genesis Partners, followed Corton. Like Corton, he used a slide show to highlight some of his points. He said without the TIF District the 1,700 acres of the development would not have been annexed into the city, there would be no Charles Pointe and the 470 homes with it along with a multitude of other development initiatives done or in the works.

 

Dellana also said without Charles Pointe’s TIF that the county, county school board, and city tax take for the farmland that he said would be there today would be a combined $1.8 million. He said that with the TIF District in place, the three tax collecting bodies will receive a combined $21 million this year after Charles Pointe receives its TIF allocation.

 

Steve Ludwig, director of hospitality for Charles Pointe, talked about public information on the project. He said there have been 161 public meetings and 384 public reports made regarding the TIF District.

 

Also, State Senator Ben Queen spoke in support of the extension. Queen did so remotely as he joined the meeting via Zoom, which is available for any member of the community.

 

After the public meeting, Commissioner Hinkle voiced his concern with approving a resolution with what he said was little known about the finances of the bonds involved with the TIF District among other issues. In particular, Hinkle felt that the resolution should not be voted on until a representative of the bond holders was able to answer questions.

 

Hinkle did ask multiple questions of Bond Counsel Todd Aman. Some of the key questions centered on concerns Hinkle had with the bondholders and extending the time limit for the TIF District.

 

Shortly following their exchange, the Commissioners voted on the matter. The approval goes to the WVEDA who will then consider extending the TIF District and will have a resolution of support from the Harrison County Commission backing it.

 

A public hearing for White Oaks on the same matter will be held in the weeks ahead.

 

Click HERE to read the statement prepared by Mayor Andy Lang. Click HERE to read West Virginia Economic Development Authority Executive Director Kris Warner's letter to the Commission. Click HERE to read the statement read by members of Genesis Partners. Click HERE to see the slides that accompanied the statement by Genesis Partners.

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Mayor Andy Lang addressing the Harrison County Commission, while Jamie Corton of Genesis Partners talks to the county's governing body in the second photo. The next two photos show Jimmy Cava and County Commission David Hinkle, while the bottom image shows individuals gathered at Wednesday's meeting in Clarksburg.