Bill Summary for Bill Number HB09-1327

Date: 04/28/2009

Final
BILL SUMMARY for HB09-1327

SENATE COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND ENERGY

Votes: View-->	Action Taken:
Moved to amend Page 6 of the reengrossed bill, lin Moved to amend Page 6 of the reengrossed bill, str Moved to refer House Bill 09-1327 to the Committee	FAIL TIE TIE

04:23 PM -- House Bill 09-1327

Senator Tochtrop, sponsor, described the provisions of the reengrossed House Bill 09-1327 that modifies the method of distributing property tax revenue attributable to urban renewal authorities (URAs) that arise from the use of tax increment financing (TIF) mechanisms to support urban renewal projects. The URA and any taxing entity located within the URA may enter into an intergovernmental agreement for determining the future allocation of property taxes. In the absence of an intergovernmental agreement, House Bill 09-1327 specifies how the property tax revenue is to be allocated. It also makes several changes to the approval and modification process with regard to an urban renewal plan.

The following persons testified on the bill:

04:28 PM -- Cindy Domenico, Colorado Counties, Inc., Boulder County Board of Commissioners, spoke in support of the bill and expressed concern about the current law concerning URAs.

04:34 PM -- Dee Wisor, representing himself, spoke in opposition to the provision of the bill that changes the allocation formula for the property tax revenue. He also responded to questions from the committee about the impact of the bill on URAs.

04:40 PM -- Michael Hyman, City of Aurora, spoke in opposition to the bill and described the Fitzsimmons URA and the Colorado Science & Technology Park at Fitzsimmons URA.

04:47 PM -- Erin Goff, Colorado Municipal League, spoke in opposition to the bill and explained how TIFs help municipalities address urban blight. She also read a written statement from Jan Powlowski, Mayor of Brighton in opposition to the bill and that describes the benefits of Brighton URA.

04:56 PM -- Bob Murphy, Mayor of Lakewood, Metro Mayors Caucus, spoke in opposition to the bill and proposed that a stakeholders group be convened during the interim to examine URAs and TIFs. He also responded to questions from the committee concerning the proposed stakeholder process and the effect of URAs on taxes collected by entities in existence prior to the formation of a URA.

05:09 PM -- Mary Carter, Mayor of Sheridan, described the Riverpoint URA in the City of Sheridan.

05:12 PM -- Mark Golberg, Goldberg Properties, Inc., International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC), spoke in opposition to the bill and described how TIFs help cities address urban blight. He also described URAs that he has developed in the Denver metro area.

05:19 PM -- Tracy Snyder, Member of the Board of Directors of City of Commerce City, spoke in opposition to the bill.

05:19 PM -- Paul Natale, Mayor of City of Commerce City, spoke in opposition to the bill and described the Gateway URA and the Derby URA.

05:23 PM -- Will Smith, Executive Director of the Estes Park URA, spoke in opposition to the bill.

05:23 PM -- Bill Pinkham, Mayor of Estes Park, spoke in opposition to the bill and described the Estes Park URA that was formed to address the impact from the Lawn Lake flood. He also responded to questions from the committee about potential amendments to the bill that would address his concerns.

05:33 PM -- Rick Klein, La Junta City Manager, spoke in opposition to the bill and described the La Junta URA.

05:36 PM -- Kathay Rennels, Chair of the Larimer County Board of Commissioners, spoke in support of the bill. She also responded to questions from the committee about the role of counties in the formation of URAs.

05:42 PM -- Frank Lancaster, Larimer County Manager, spoke in support of the bill and expressed concern about urban blight designations by URAs (Attachment C and Attachment D). He also responded to questions from the committee about barriers to greater cooperation between cities and other affected governmental entities in the formation of URAs and TIFs.

06:00 PM -- Sallie Clark, El Paso County Board of Commissioners, Colorado Counties Inc., spoke in support of the bill and described the possible impact of TIFs on county revenues.

06:08 PM -- Nick Christianson, Christland Commercial, spoke in support of the bill.

06:13 PM -- Paul Cooke, Colorado State Fire Chiefs' Association, spoke in support of the bill and expressed concern about the potential impact of TIFs on rural fire protection districts. He also responded to questions from the committee regarding the need for a task force to study URAs and TIFs.

06:20 PM

Senator Tochtrop spoke in opposition to amending the bill to form a task force to study URAs and TIFs.

06:22 PM -- Stephanie Thomas, Colorado Environmental Coalition, spoke in support of the bill and expressed concern about URAs that designate agricultural lands as blight to pay for the development of those lands.

06:26 PM -- Chip Taylor, Colorado Counties, Inc., spoke in support of the bill and responded to prior testimony in opposition to the bill. He also described the effect of Article 10, Section 20 of the Colorado Constitution, also known as the Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR), on the ability of counties, special districts, and other governmental entities to increase taxes to address service-needs related to URAs.

Rod Bockenfeld, Arapahoe County Board of Commissioners, submitted a letter of support for the bill (Attachment E).

Larry Pace, Chair of the Adams County Board of Commissioners, submitted a letter of support for the bill (Attachment F).

06:33 PM

Senator Tochtrop closed her remarks on the bill.


BILL:	HB09-1327
TIME:	06:47:07 PM
MOVED:	Lundberg
MOTION:	Moved to amend Page 6 of the reengrossed bill, line 10, strike "FIFTY" and substitute "SIXTY", line 13, strike 'FIFTY" and substitute "FORTY". The motion failed on a vote of 3-4.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman	Yes
	Hodge	No
	Kester	Yes
	Lundberg	Yes
	Newell	No
	Foster	No
	Schwartz	No

Not Final YES: 3 NO: 4 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: FAIL

06:53 PM

Ms. Goff returned to respond to questions about the respective authority of home rule municipalities and URAs.


BILL:	HB09-1327
TIME:	07:04:00 PM
MOVED:	Schwartz
MOTION:	Moved to amend Page 6 of the reengrossed bill, strike lines 7 through 17, line 18 strike "sub-subparagraph (A) of this subparagraph (I), the", and substitute "THE", line 19, strike "MAY" and substitute "SHALL". Committee discussion followed about the proposed amendment. The bill was laid over without taking action on this amendment.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman
	Hodge
	Kester
	Lundberg
	Newell
	Foster
	Schwartz

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE

07:10 PM

Bob Lackner, Office of Legislative Legal Services, identified drafting problems with the proposed amendment and proposed alternative language to address Senator Schwartz' intent.


BILL:	HB09-1327
TIME:	06:47:15 PM
MOVED:	Cadman
MOTION:	Moved to refer House Bill 09-1327 to the Committee of the Whole. Amendments to the bill were considered and none were approved. The bill was laid over unamended at 7:12 p.m.
SECONDED:
		VOTE
	Cadman
	Hodge
	Kester
	Lundberg
	Newell
	Foster
	Schwartz

Not Final YES: 0 NO: 0 EXC: 0 ABS: 0 FINAL ACTION: TIE

07:12 PM

The bill was laid over unamended and the meeting adjourned.