The Albany Civic Theater, shown in April, was one of four organizations granted funds Wednesday by the city’s urban renewal agency.
Four downtown organizations are sharing in the last batch of grants handed out by the Albany Revitalization Agency, which governs the CARA urban renewal program.
The agency, made up of the six city council members and the mayor, met Wednesday to dispose of remaining money in the last grant program CARA offered before closing for business.
Last month, the council awarded $261,940 to Sybaris Bistro to help with the costs of restoring and expanding the former Oregon Electric Railway depot so it can become the restaurant’s new home.
On Wednesday, council members awarded $42,000 to the Albany Civic Theater; $45,908 to Calapooia Brewery; $85,900 to DeLuxe Brewing, and $109,252 to Cumberland Community Events Center.
That left $152, and the council added that to the Sybaris grant of last month. The original Sybaris grant was the amount the restaurant said was the price of its new patio. But the council clarified Wednesday that the money was not earmarked for the patio.
The organizations all asked for the money in order to complete or start renovations on their respective buildings.
Before this latest round of grants, CARA had $545,000 left of its total spending authority, which was $52 million.
Before the urban renewal district ends in June 2027, the city should make a comprehensive list of what the district has spent since it started in 2001.
CARA has done a lot over all these years, including a lot of good, and a complete list will remind taxpayers where all the money went. (hh)
why do they give money to entities that don’t pay taxes? CARA was supposed to generate “future” property tax income to pay for itself. Otherwise, it’s simple corruption.
But, why not give the last of the CARA taxpayer’s money to non-profits? The two breweries got the bulk of the last of the money….plus Sybaris. Those three are all for-profit outfits and will be paying taxes….unless the city has granted them a long reprieve from property taxes like they did the Eugene outfit, Obie, who may build a big apartment building/hotel combination.
If CARA does compile a list of where the 52 million went, I hope they list all the businesses who got CARA money and then went out of business.
Obie has not yet been “granted a long reprieve…” They have yet to exercise their option(s) & then go through the fun application process…
For a listing of previous CARA projects, dive/zoom in here:
https://albanyoregon.gov/cara/projects
Thank you Ray!
Yes, CARA was corrupt…not in the sense of “committing a crime,” but they used taxpayer’s money to help businesses while letting the things government is supposed to do (fix the roads, etc.) slide. But, we are not likely to have another CARA (urban renewal district), because it now takes a vote of the people of Albany to form one; not just a vote of the Council.
Also, tax increment financing (skimming money off the top of property taxes for 25 years) is being outlawed in many states.
We are being naive if we think CARA is going to compile a list of where all the CARA money went the last 25 years. They are not going to do that and can plead that they are out of money and therefore cannot make a list.
A comprehensive list is a good idea. One would hope they will.
Dive/Zoom in here:
albanyoregon.gov/cara/projects
I believe Hasso is talking about the 52 million and who got how much. Didn’t see that.
Click on any of the specific items in the map, and it will show/tell you the amount…
Ray, I went online to albanyoregon.gov/cara/projects. That is impossible to follow. A list needs to be compiled on paper and made available at City Hall where people can pick up a copy. Or, if the list is only compiled digitally, it needs to be done in a simple list form and the status of each project briefly listed, and a link could be furnished in the weekly City of Albany online newsletter.
I did see on the website above two businesses that got CARA money that are closed or closing. That would be Novak’s Hungarian Restaurant and Spearit Beads.
I went on Oscar Hult’s tour of first street in downtown Albany this evening. We started at the Albany Civic Theater. He said that the theater was planning to renovate the front of the building and was waiting for grant approval. It appears they have it. It’s needed.
you will never see the list of for profit companys. Would you want to show where you spent 52 million dollars of tax payers money. and the dismal tax returns on that. Good luck
I am not a fan of administering what are essentially charitable donations through a city slush fund. That sounds inefficient and prone to fraud (though this CARA fund looks like it was well-managed). Logic is that if a worthy non-profit like ACT needs special funds to fix up property then it can just do a fund-raiser for itself. There will be people who will donate the required funds for something as worthy as ACT or the events center. I am not nearly so fond of charity for the for-profit businesses like Sybaris, Calapooia and DeLuxe Brewing, though I love all those enterprises and frequent them. But it is political favoritism with other people’s money. Why this brewery or restaurant over the others, or other businesses for that matter. Hopefully this is the end of taxes to subjectively awarded “causes”
“Why this brewery or restaurant over the others, or other businesses for that matter.”
ANY business in the CARA district could have applied to go through the vetting process. And just applying in no way guaranteed getting anything…
We know all that Ray….such as when a business applies there is no guarantee that it will get picked to receive CARA “money.” That does not address, however, what Mr. McMorris said about donations to businesses and non-profits through city-run slush funds. Urban renewal districts, in these hard times, are going to have a hell of a time getting formed in most states because people are outlawing tax increment financing and urban renewal districts (although Corvallis has a couple urban renewal districts in process. The people of Corvallis were stupid to vote those in, or maybe it was just a vote of their Council like in Albany).
Urban renewal districts have been very common over the years as an effective “tool” cities can use. Many cities in Oregon have/had them. I get that a few folks don’t like the methodology used for them but They Do Work by their process…
The reason they work, Ray, is that money was skimmed off the property taxes people pay and “given” whole-hog to the Urban Renewal district, CARA. 52 million dollars is what they spent, and Albany is no doubt in debt forever for part of that 52 million.
Wrong on several levels… You obviously have no clue as to how T.I.F. actually works. I’ll just leave it at that & let you fall deeper into your rabbit hole…
Ok, Ray. Tell us how T.I.F. works. (Tax Increment Financing which means an urban renewal district gets all the increases in property taxes for businesses in the acreage of that urban renewal district sent to them (that is, sent to the group (City Council) running the urban renewal district) over 25 years or whatever the life of the urban renewal district is. They need more money than that, so they use that money to pay interest on loans they get to finance all the gifts of grants they give to businesses…I got my information from a news story on California’s disillusionment with tax increment financing and urban renewal districts.)