Downtown assessment fees

[Gaspar]

Methinks this ballpark will spark alot of interest... about 30 years worth...

+1 Karma for that.

[sgrizzle]

- Regular maintenance/cleaning up downtown expanded contract for the inept group that currently does it and I believe is also represented on the authority (was this put to a bid?)

DTU has no ties to the stadium trust.

Was there a bid process for maintenance work downtown?

They have been researching and trying to develop the RFP and had outside consultants (people who run other downtown orgs) to help draft it but they are not going to get it out to bid in time for the June30 DTU contract deadline. DTU will likely get a 6mo extension to allow time for the RFP process.

What are the terms of the Driller's lease?  I know the owner "donated" $1,000,000 and they have a lease, but what portion of the total cost of the stadium will the Driller's actually cover?  (I'm not looking for 100%, just think it should be well known)

$5M over 30yrs

What about the old Drillers stadium?  More city owned property to be abandoned?  The Fairgrounds have lost Bells (which, fwiw, is STILL a "just" damn parking lot), the 66ers, and soon the Drillers.  Or 3/5 tenants if you are keeping score.  Without disparaging the improvements to the fairgrounds and it's excellent utilization, it appears to be a bit concerning. 

What happens is up to the county. A smart move would've been proposing building a new ballpark on the fairgrounds, but.. you know.

[Townsend]

Downtown assessment fees owed for many Tulsa property owners


http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20120103_11_A1_CUTLIN58504

The city of Tulsa has failed to collect more than $460,000 in fees from downtown property owners whose assessments were meant to finance the construction of the downtown baseball park.

More than 300 invoices totaling $467,131.53 are still unpaid by property owners, many of whom could face foreclosure proceedings by the city if the debts remain unpaid.

The city of Tulsa initiated foreclosure proceedings in Tulsa County District Court in late December against one property owner, Carl J. Morony, who it says failed for the past three years to pay improvement-district fees for two downtown buildings he owns.

The city is considering filing lawsuits against other property owners with unpaid assessment fees, said Bob Edmiston, senior assistant city attorney.

The city filed dozens of liens against downtown property owners in November after bills for improvement-fee assessments went unpaid.

The city can initiate foreclosure proceedings in court if a lien is not satisfied within one year of filing, Edmiston said.

Upwards of 93 percent of stadium improvement-district fees are paid on time by the property owners, he said.

The city has collected about $3 million in each of the three years the stadium assessment has been in place.

About 90 property owners have unpaid improvement-district fees.

Blue Dome district landowner Michael Sager, who owns properties that have liens, said he doesn't worry about foreclosure.

"We have no fear," Sager said. "We are getting ready to do a bunch of cleanup at the end of the year, and we will be bringing our stuff current."

Sager, a proponent of the improvement-district fees when they were proposed in 2009, said in some cases it has taken time for leases on property he rents to renew so that the fees can be included in the new leases.

"It's been burdensome initially for us and I'm sure other property owners who did not have that kind of tax built into their leases," he said.

City councilors voted in June 2009 to require property owners within the Inner Dispersal Loop to pay an annual fee of 6.5 cents per square foot of land and structure for 30 years.

The fees are related to an assessment district that was created to help fund the construction of ONEOK Field, the home of the city's Double-A baseball team, the Tulsa Drillers, as well as to pay for upkeep and maintenance of the area.

Of the 6.5 cents per square foot, 4.3 cents are repaying a $25 million bond that was issued to help cover the $39.2 million construction cost of the 6,200-seat stadium.

The remaining 2.2 cents are to be used to pay for downtown services such as landscaping and sweeping.

About 100 parcels are more than a year in arrears on the payment of the fee and could face foreclosure proceedings.

Of the total amount owed in liens, about $76,500 is owed from fees levied in 2009. Another $138,400 is owed from assessment fees levied in 2010.

Edmiston said the city will wait until an appeals court rules on the fee legality before initiating foreclosure proceedings against a group of property owners who challenged the assessment fee.

Some of those challenging the fee have not paid their assessment fees.

But Marc Price, who owns downtown property and is challenging the fee, has paid his assessment.

"We are paying them under duress, but we are paying them," said Price, who expressed sympathy for those who are not paying them.

"I would hate to see them foreclose on anybody's properties, especially if they can't afford to pay an illegal assessment," Price said.

"I basically paid mine out of fear if they start stacking liens up on it - which I'll die with this property, but what if my kids inherit it and the liens are more than it's worth?" Price said.

He contends that the warehouse and other properties he owns in the far southeast corner of the IDL have not benefited from the stadium.

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20120103_11_A1_CUTLIN58504

[carltonplace]

Since the stakeholders are not developing the property around the ball park I wonder if they shouldn't just sell these properties and stop collecting the assessment fees once the ballpark itself is paid off?

[patric]

How many jobs would be lost if the city forecloses on these businesses?

[DTowner]

How many jobs would be lost if the city forecloses on these businesses?

The real question is how many of the properties in arrears are vacant, like the Morony properties?  If most of them are vacant, then the foreclosures would have negligible effect on jobs.

[patric]

The real question is how many of the properties in arrears are vacant, like the Morony properties?  If most of them are vacant, then the foreclosures would have negligible effect on jobs.

In that case, heavily taxing a non-revenue-producing plot with expectations the owner will default seems more like an Eminent Domain tactic.

[carltonplace]

In that case, heavily taxing a non-revenue-producing plot with expectations the owner will default seems more like an Eminent Domain tactic.

In the case of Moroney he's already ruined one of our downtown treasures (the Bruce Goff designed "Tulsa Club") and is neglecting the Sinclair building into ruin too. I have little sympathy for him. These buildings could have tenants and be contributing to the growing sucess downtown. All he has to do is rent the units for a competetive amount, apparently keeping them empty and not paying the mounting taxes and assesments is a better business plan to him.

Conversely I don't have much sympathy for the Ball Park trust that wanted control of the surrounding properties and since has done nothing with them. Assessment payers should not have to pay for the surrounding properties, either to sit idle or to be developed. The trust needs to sell them for development and reduce the assessment.