Downtown revival supporters seeking help from Legislature

If Las Vegas is going to continue to use the tactics that helped revive downtown, the city is going to need an assist from the Nevada Legislature.

That’s according to city officials who on Wednesday laid out their agenda for the 2013 legislative session.

At the top of the list is their desire to extend the life span of the city’s downtown redevelopment agency, an entity that uses property tax diversions and other funds to offer incentives for developers to renovate or build downtown.

The agency, founded in 1986 and scheduled to expire in 2031, would benefit from pushing the expiration date to 2046, because it would give officials more room to refinance debt and offer incentives.

The agency’s latest posted financial report shows about $112 million in long term debt, money that’s gone to support projects like the new City Hall, the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, the Mob Museum and other projects credited with breathing new life into the downtown.

Although the agency is legally separate from the city, City Council members make up the board and approve or deny development incentives.

Funding comes mostly from diverting property tax revenue that comes in when land values in the redevelopment zone increase, a mechanism called tax increment financing, or TIF.

"We have been trying to get this extension knowing that our bonds’ value would be dropping off significantly without an extension," City Manager Betsy Fretwell told the City Council. "Our TIF is running out so we either renew that or we change the game plan."

City officials tried and failed to get the redevelopment agency extended during the 2011 session. One bill that would have accomplished the goal failed to get out of committee.

The proposed extension was then added to Senate Bill 360, a bill that had support from state Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, and made it out of the Democrat-controlled Legislature only to be vetoed by Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval.

In his veto message Sandoval didn’t object to extending the life of the Las Vegas redevelopment agency; instead he said the bill contained overly restrictive preferential hiring requirements for redevelopment projects.

"There were some things that were added to this bill that the governor didn’t feel were appropriate for this state," said Ted Olivas, the city’s director of administrative services and top lobbyist.

Ward 3 Councilman Bob Coffin, a former Democratic state legislator, pressed Olivas to elaborate on how the bill got sidetracked, saying the public should know more about the politics of Carson City.

"You are saying people loaded it up like a Christmas tree. Who loaded it up and with what?" Coffin said, adding later, "The public doesn’t know how it works if we don’t speak frankly. We can’t hide these things."

Afterward, Fretwell said city officials are reaching out to Sandoval and legislators in advance of the 2013 session to avoid a repeat of 2011.

"That is very political and that is their decision," Fretwell said of Coffin’s assertion that too many legislators have shifted their loyalties from their regional interests to their party leaders. "What we seek to do is to make sure we get every­one who is interested and everyone who is impacted the information they need before they make a decision."

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0285.