City Council - Regular Meeting

Hey, good afternoon and welcome to our last meeting of October tonight by Council Le Martinez by Mayor Pro Tim Jeff. Please rise. Father God, we come to you this evening uh thankful for the rain, thanking you for your continued blessings upon this city. Lord, we ask that you you bless the leaders in this room and and you bless those that are here to see Anderson continue to get better. We ask for you to help us discern, use wisdom, and continue to put uh our city in the in the front of every decision we make. In your name we pray. Amen. To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

The minutes of our October 13th meeting were distributed. Are there any corrections or additions to the minutes? like to make a motion that we accept agendas. First by Mr. Stewart, second by Mr. Steel. All those in favor say I. I. Opposed. The minutes of October 13th pass unanimously. We don't have any old business, but we have a couple items of new business and our first item is request considerations of accommodation tax the a tax advisory committee recommendations. Mr. Strickland. Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

Mayor, council, what you have before you uh tonight. Um first item business tonight is recommendation from our accomodation tax advisory. We do this. Recently just appointed a couple new members to that. Thank you. This evening, we're requesting consideration of the accommodation tax advisory committee's recommendations for this year's grant allocations. Each year, the city of Anderson receives a share of the 2% accommodations tax revenue from the state of South Carolina designated to support tourism through our local AAX grant program. This year, the city received 33 applications requesting a total of $366,535. The amount available for allocation is $34,44740. Earlier this month, as Mr. Strickland briefed us, the council appointed a tax advisory committee met to review applications from local agencies seeking these funds for events and projects that promote tourism in the city. The committee evaluated each request based on factors such as their tourism track record, data collection, documentation of advertising and promotion, economic

impact and other funding sources, and the overall ability to attract and sustain tourism. Based on those criteria, the committee recommends funding these 33 projects before you. As a reminder, the first $25,000 plus 5% of total collections is distributed to the general fund. 30% of the remaining balance supports the city's designated tourism agency and the remaining 65% is awarded through this grant program, two organizations that create and sustain tourism. Staff concurs with the committee's recommendations and extends appreciation to the members.

Thank you. Um hopefully everybody has had a chance. This is an annual event for us and um the names look familiar, but I'll open it up for any questions or comments from council.

There's a lot of good projects on there. I'll make the motion to approve the list as presented. First by Mr. Newton. Second. Second by Mr. Martinez. Any further questions? just to thank the committee members and everybody on our team that led that process. All those in favor say I I opposed. The recommendation passes unanimously. Thank you. Our last item is request consideration of an ordinance to establish a special tax assessment for rehabilitated historic properties. Mr. Stripper.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh council, what you have before you is a request for first reading on an ordinance that would establish a special tax assessment for re rehabilitated historic properties uh creating an incentive process for uh the preservation and rehabilitation of historic properties throughout the city. Um Mr. Mike Burns from Boreman is here to present the uh this item. We have a couple slides we'll run through um and he can he can certainly uh answer any questions as we go along. Uh but just broadly uh let me just kind of hit the high notes of of this proposed ordinance. Uh proposed ordinance would would freeze the pre uh pre-rehabilitation assess value of the property for period determined by the level of investment. Um we have proposed a tiered approach, a tiered system um for five years uh that that assessed value would be frozen for investments less than $2 million. a 10-year freeze for investments of $2 million or more, but less than $5 million, and 15 years for an investment of $5 million or more. Um, the minimum expenditure necessary to qualify for that that special assessment must be 50% of the fair market value for owner occupied or or residential properties. Uh, and must exceed the fair market value, so 100% of the fair market value for commercial properties. Um the process would would lean very heavily on our board of architectural review. Um a resolution by city council would begin the process uh approve the plan of work. Preliminary certification by the board board of architectural review that the project meets historic district requirements. If that if that would is approved then the project can begin construction once permits are pulled and then final certification at the end of construction by the board of architectural review that that completed work meets the approved standards. Mike.

Thank you, Andrew. Mayor, members of the council, good to see you again. Um, I think uh Andrew did a good job of uh describing the the basics of the of the of the proposal before you tonight for to freeze the freeze the assessment with the special tax assessment. Um, just to re reiterate a few things and I'm glad to answer any questions. Um the idea was that this would kind of simplify the process for certain projects that were kind of lost in the in the scheme of the the larger projects. The council has done incentives for kind of can be expensive and arduous process. This was intended to be a a tool that can be targeted more toward historic renovation projects and allow owner occupied properties as well as incomeroucing properties to take advantage of it. Andrew mentioned the the kind of the tiered level of the uh freezing of the assess special assessment. Um up to $2 million that would be frozen for five years, $2 to5 million frozen for 10 years. And uh for more than $5 million of um expenses for rehabilitation, it would be frozen for up to 15 years. Um again, Andrew mentioned the prelim preliminary certification process and yes, that would start with a resolution of council and then um historic designation which is either automatic for certain properties whether if they're located like on the National Register of Historic Places or if they are located in one of the city's historic district overlay districts and over 50 years old. um if they're not uh given automatic um designation, then there is an approval process where the board of architectural review can give that historic designation based on certain factors. Um you know, if they're if they're emblematic or um particular to a to kind of historical significance of the city's development and other, you

know, artistic or social or economic or religious reasons that a particular property um needs that historic designation. And the board of architectural review also reviews the proposed work to be done, the historic work on the structure to make sure it's appropriate um in accordance with the secretary of the interior standards for historic uh rehabilitation and of of course any other city uh guidelines that they would have to comply with. Um, so the rehabilitation expenditures have to be at least 50% of the fair market value of the property in the owner occupied context. If it's income producing, then the cost of the improvements have to be at least 100% of the existing fair market value of the property. Um, and let's see, just to hit on a few other things here, the board of architectural review would inform the owner within 30 days of their application whether it's approved. If it's not approved, then they can resubmit. But that would, as currently proposed, that would start a 2-year period where the um assessed value is frozen while construction commences and continues. Um if any changes are made to the project um subsequent to that preliminary approval, it would need to go back before the board of architectural review to make sure that it's appropriate. Um at the end of the project, the owner has done the work. Then it submits a application for final certification to the board of architectural review and um the board of architectural review will inspect it to make sure that the work actually complying complied with the plans that were proposed. make sure that the expenses that are um offered up are actually verified and confirmed. And if it is in fact confirmed, then that

frozen assessment continues to apply beyond that initial two-year period to the end of either the 5year, 10 year or 15 total amount period. Um if however it is not approved, if the work has not been done in accordance with the plan, then the frozen assessment is wiped away and any foregone taxes for the prior two years would be collected and the assessment would not be frozen moving forward. Um following certification and you know completion of the project um the owner would need to notify board of architectural review if it intends to do any additional work to the property other than you know normal operational or maintenance expenditures. If it's going to do something significant to the property it needs to notify board of architectural review to determine whether that is appropriate and in line with the plans that were approved. Um if it's not then they can resubmit, revise their plans and and and um get it in compliance. And there are some situations where certification um of the property could be it could in fact actually be descertified. One would be if the owner requests that removal of designation. Two, if the city council determines that the historical designation has been lost and three, uh the board of architectural review can rescend it as well if it determines that the alterations or renovations um have been of you know such a nature that it causes the property to no longer really possess the characteristics of a historic of the historic property. Um sale of the property does not result in descertification. So if a developer improves a property and in turn sells the property that frozen assessment will continue its apply for the new property owner till the end of the the tiered

period. And um the way it is uh in accordance with the statute uh if preliminary certification of the project is approved by August 1st of a particular year then the special um assessment will apply effective that tax year. If it's after August 1st then that um freezing of the assessed value would not happen until the subsequent tax year. So, I know that was quick, but I I think um y'all were already familiar with a good bit of this, but I'm glad to answer any questions there.

Thank you, Mr. Burns. Any questions, comments? Mr. Steel. Um my understanding is that we previously thought that this had to be something that was passed by both a municipal government and a county government, but there's been an administrative law decision that has recently come out that seemed to indicate that either the county or the municipal government can pass it on their own. Is that accurate? That's correct. There there is a administrative law case that dealt with not that exact situation headon, but the implication of it was that yes, the city was it determination of the assessed value is what applied to all of the taxing districts

and and I guess Mr. Assistant City Manager, is that why we're kind of considering it now? No, that is that's exactly right. Um, prior prior it was kind of understood that that there had to be a partnership for it to affect the entire tax bill. But to Mr. Burn's point, uh, that new information made us comfortable acting. Now, thank you. Thank you. Any other comments, questions, Mr. Stewart?

Just point of clarification on the, um, income producing property. I know you mentioned it must be at least 100% of the fair market value. Is it at least the fair market value or exceed the fair market value? I heard at least 100% but then I see on here it says exceed 100%. So which just want to clarify which one is it? Let me grab my copy of that. It it must meet or exceed. So it it meet. So it just has to be at least 100% of the fair market. Yeah, that was a typo by me. Okay. I just want to make sure that that was a summary of what it was saying. So good catch. Thank you. Question answer.

Okay. administrative briefing is tainted a little. But anyway, Mayor Pro Tim also um if these special tax assessments are granted, it doesn't preclude the use of other incentives, maybe abandoned building credits and that sort of thing. Is that correct? Correct. They can still be used. They can be layered if the developer chose to use them. Mortinez.

Yeah. just a comment here to to say that, you know, we live in a world now where it's easy to talk about new development and and growth. You know, this actually speaks to something that's near and dear to me. And when you talk about actual preservation of historic buildings, that's what what really makes up a lot of our charm when we think about the city of Anderson and and some of the things that we want to protect. Um, I would ask us to to maybe take some time to look at that certification time window. I would I would certainly want um the developer if they're making that investment in the property for them to be able to capture as much incentive of it as they can. But I want to thank the city for for kind of being a trailblazer in and trying to bring something like this to our area. I think it's much needed. I think it's going to spur investment in the right area. Um and I'm excited to see it happen. I also would ask us to to kind of look at the tier. I I like the the benefit based on the investment. Um, but I do want to make sure that it it still remains uh friendly for the city and the developer so that we can make good business decisions. Thank you. Any other questions, comments?

I would agree. I mean, the city um for the last three decades has been very focused on um a historic downtown and making sure that the character of the buildings stay there. through our council and the board architecture review. We've been able to do that. It's a great tool and take advantage of it. Thank you.

Mr. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion that we approve on first reading the ordinance to establish a special tax assessment for rehabilitated historic properties. Second that. First by Mr. Stewart, uh second by Dr. Thompson. Any further comments, questions? All those in favor? I I opposed. It passes unanimously on the first read. I would entertain a motion to adjurnn. I make a motion. Oh, I'm sorry. Before we do that, we have a motion right here. Make a second.

Second by Mr. Newton. I would before we adjourn been council's um habit of we know there's some some young people that go to Oakwood Christian School that are coming in here. Um maybe the spokes guy is the guy in the tie there. You want to get up and tell us what you're doing? Sure.

Put you on the spot. Well, we appreciate you being here and your your classmates. Thank you for coming. Hope you learned something. take care of that. Thank you.