Prestwick tries new plan with Cape city financing

Cape Girardeau city officials hope to spark development of the Prestwick Plantation residential subdivision with a new financing plan.

The proposed development of upscale homes could rely on city bonds to fund construction of water, sewer and street improvements under a new plan proposed by city officials.

City officials proposed the neighborhood improvement district financing plan after Prestwick Plantation developers this summer withdrew their hotly debated request for tax-increment financing, which would have involved tax abatements.

Cape Girardeau public school officials had objected to the TIF plan for the residential development near Dalhousie Golf Club on Bloomfield Road. School officials were concerned it would cost the school district $5 million in property tax revenue lost to abatements.

The new financing plan involves no tax abatements. The city would have no upfront expenses either.

"That's what makes it so beautiful," Mayor Jay Knudtson said. "The city doesn't have to fund the cost."

Knudtson said the city doesn't want to be a road block to development projects.

Prestwick Plantation developers would pay an engineering firm to develop infrastructure plans and calculate construction costs. The developers would submit the plans and petition the city council to establish a neighborhood improvement district. The council would hold a public hearing before deciding.

If the council establishes a district, then the city would issue income-tax-exempt bonds to fund construction. The bonds would be retired through special assessments paid by the affected property owners over a period of up to 20 years, city manager Doug Leslie said.

Leslie estimated infrastructure improvements could total less than $5 million.

Rob Huff, chief financial officer for the school district and a member of the city's TIF commission, likes the new financing plan.

"That sounds like a great deal for everybody," he said.

700 homes

Knudtson and Leslie met last week with developer Cord Dombrowski to discuss the possibility of establishing a neighborhood improvement district for the proposed 700-home development.

Leslie said it could be January before any proposal comes before the council.

Dombrowski couldn't be reached for comment.

Missouri has allowed for such districts since 1990, but Leslie said this is the first such district to be proposed in Cape Girardeau.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123