LAKEPORT — The City of Lakeport will experience the beginning of a long-held dream in the coming year ? a redevelopment project of downtown that will improve parking, add new lights, street furniture, wide cobblestone crosswalks, shade trees and other infrastructure to Third, Main, and Park Streets, launching a plan that will eventually improve the entire downtown core and lengthen Main Street.
City Manager Jerry Gillham says the projects will lead to economic growth that will help fund further redevelopment projects by increasing tax revenues ? the main source of funding for Lakeport”s redevelopment agency ? and provide jobs with a family wage, an integral part of three key ingredients that makes a city healthy and attractive.
“Lakeport is thought of as a great place to live, but you also want to be known as a great place to live, work, and play. We have the live and the play pieces, and based on our demographics we know we have the workforce. We have to now go out and find those businesses that will support our economy so people don”t have to commute to jobs outside of the county,” said Gillham.
The city has tentatively allocated $7 million for the redevelopment projects in the 2007/2008 draft of the budget. The amount spent could vary anywhere from $3 million to $7 million and will come from tax increment revenues, and possibly bond money (money that the city has borrowed against the anticipated tax revenues). The redevelopment plan was adopted in 1999 with the intent of improving Lakeport aesthetically and encouraging economic growth.
According to Richard Knoll, Community Development Director with the city of Lakeport, tax increment revenue has been steadily increasing since 2001, adding up to $3 million total. “Some of that money has to go to affected agencies?those entitled to a portion of the revenue, but after deductions and set-asides we”ve netted about $1.6 million in revenue that is available for these projects and to pay debt,” said Knoll.
The city has already issued two bonds, $1 million each, against the anticipated tax revenues. One bond was used to pay back debt that was incurred during the engineering of the downtown plan, the other will be combined with the tax revenues to fund the downtown projects. The city will likely take out more loans against anticipated revenues to deal with a budget deficit the city is currently struggling with, according to officials.
What initially drove Gillham to ask the city council to approve the redevelopment funds for the 2007/2008 budget draft this summer was the possibility of using the money to underwrite the current deficit of $1.37 million that has gradually accumulated since the 2002/2003 budget year, due to over-spending. While the budget has not yet passed, council members have been “enthusiastic” about the plan that was discussed Tuesday, Aug. 21, according to Gillham.
“We have this consistent revenue stream from the redevelopment funds that has been accumulating out of sales and property taxes. $600,000 of the funds has been proposed to underwrite the current deficit,” said Gillham.
According to Gillham, in 2008/2009, the city will continue to look into borrowing funds through bonds. Property and sales taxes have shown consistent increases that officials say will snowball with every dollar spent on redevelopment. The increasing tax revenues will likely be used by the city as collateral to secure loans, complete projects and pay off the deficit.
“There is an economic theory that says that every dollar the government puts into development, $10 of private investment will follow. This redevelopment project is meant to be a kick start to making our economy strong. We can revitalize downtown, attract people downtown, and increase spending so there will be more taxes funding more projects,” said Gillham.
Knoll says the city hopes the first project, the redevelopment of Third, Main, and Park streets as well as improved parking, will cost the city about $500,000. Engineering plans are nearly complete, he says, and construction is expected to start sometime after the first of the year in 2008.
“This is an initiation project for what we”d like to do for the whole downtown, between Forbes Street and the lake, and from D street on the south to Clearlake Avenue, extending the length of Main Street, adding street trees and lights, new street furniture, and bulb-outs (extended sidewalks at intersections designed to slow traffic, increase pedestrian safety, and add aesthetic appeal),” said Knoll.
“We want to improve the connection with downtown to the Clear Lake shoreline; right now there is a nice view, but the street improvements will really help extend the downtown there. With this project there will be an emphasis on creating a pedestrian friendly, more traditional downtown environment that is aesthetically pleasing and comfortable for people,” said Knoll.
Throughout the process of the redevelopment projects, there will be opportunities for town hall discussions and the Lakeport city council will strongly rely on the input of local merchants and residents, says Gillham.
“The discussion of the plans will definitely include the public, we”ll want the merchants to hold a public meeting to talk about the plans, and we”ll ask people to get back together after the $3 million project is completed to see what we”ll do next. It will totally be decided by the public and the downtown merchants within the framework of the plan. Of course we”re not going to do gold sidewalks if they ask us to,” said Gillham.
According to Gillham, there are plenty of people who will be attracted to the downtown area.
In addition to a steadily growing population of 65,933 in the county according to 2006 US Census estimates, the city of Lakeport recently concluded a study on demographics that shows within a 45 minute drive from downtown Lakeport there is a population of 100,000.
“What we want to do is attract more people in and have people shop and spend money locally, essentially capturing spending dollars that are theoretically going someplace else,” said Gillham.
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