“MURA only exists at this point to pay off the debt,” MURA President, Kevin Stine says, “there’s no more money to pay for anything else.”
In 1988, property taxes for land within the urban renewal boundary were capped as far as what went to the city, the county, and the school district. Then, as property taxes went up over the years, anything beyond the 1988 cap went to MURA. That allowed the agency to tackle different projects.
“Whether it be sidewalks,” Stine says, “whether it be a facility in Hawthorne, whether it be a pedestrian bridge.”
But the agency has borrowed all it can, and only two options remain. Do away with it, or get one last loan.
“We could do what’s called a major amendment,” Stine says, “and by doing that you can get 20% of the total of the original which ends up being 24 to 25 million dollars that the city could increase the indebtedness of MURA.”
If the council doesn’t take the money, MURA would disband when its $250-thousand dollar debt is paid off in January of 2019. If it wants to pursue the amendment, they have to get the ball rolling as it’s a 6 to 9 month process. Either way, MURA President Kevin Stine hopes the public will weigh in.
“I care greatly that we get citizen input on what we should do,” Stine says, “maybe citizen input is that we shouldn’t do anything- that we should just pay off the bond and be done with it. But I think this is a great opportunity to do things that we normally can’t do because the city budget’s tapped out.”
Stine adds regardless of what happens to MURA, one thing won’t change as a result- your taxes.
We want to know what you think, should MURA pay off the debt and disband? Or take the final loan and do a few more projects? Click HERE and leave us a comment with your thoughts.
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