Midnight Fireworks to Mark Columbia's Sesquicentennial

Columbia’s 150th anniversary will start, literally, with a blast when the clock strikes midnight on New Year's Eve. A fireworks display will be ignited from the top of Cherry Street overlooking the city, emergency sirens will be sounded and church bells will ring to mark the beginning of the sesquicentennial year. Residents are encouraged to join in the celebration by making their own noise with car horns, bells and noisemakers.

A number of events are being planned throughout the year in celebration of Columbia's milestone year as a city.

District Reports $12.8M in New Development, Rising Values

Columbia's Admiral Parkway Redevelopment Area has used Tax Increment Financing (TIF) successfully to spur growth in the district, leading to more than $12,800,000 in new construction in the past eighteen months. That's the message members of the Joint Review Board--a multi-agency group that annually monitors operations of the district--heard at today's meeting.

Construction of Maverick Technologies' World Headquarters, a new branch for Reliance Bank, and the Hampton Inn account for the sizable increase in capital improvements in the district, which was cited in 1995 as "blighted" by the Columbia City Council. The value of the new CVS Pharmacy building currently under construction, was not included in this total.

Despite the national downturn in development, City staff and private real estate brokers are continuing to market available properties in the area. Several of the projects undertaken in recent years, following what many see as the successful turnaround of the district, have been funded without further participation in TIF. Property values in the area have risen much faster than overall inflation, as well.

TIF can allow financially strapped local governments to make the improvements like new roads or sewers, or provide incentives to attract new businesses or help existing businesses stay and expand, without tapping into general municipal revenues or raising taxes. Local taxing bodies make a joint investment in the redevelopment of an area with the intent that any short-term gains be reinvested and leveraged so that all the taxing bodies will receive larger financial gains in the future. The funds for this investment come from future tax revenues not otherwise expected to occur--revenues which are generated by increased public and private investment in identified, underperforming, areas.

Tax Increment Board Meets Monday

The Admiral Parkway Redevelopment Area Joint Review Board (JRB) will meet next Monday, December 29th. As provided by Illinois state statute, the JRB is made up of one representative from each taxing authority affected by a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district along with at least one member of the general public.

The JRB must meet annually to review the progress of the redevelopment plan for the TIF district. The City is also required to maintain a registry of individuals interested in the process and make them aware of the annual JRB meeting, the date for which is different each year pending release of fund accounting to the State of Illinois.

TIF calls for local taxing bodies to make a joint investment in the development or redevelopment of an area with the intent that any short term gains be reinvested and leveraged so that all the taxing bodies will receive larger financial gains in the future. The funds for this investment do not come from current revenues, but from future tax revenues not otherwise expected to occur. These new revenues are generated by increased public and private investment in identified, underperforming, areas.

The Admiral Parkway Redevelopment Area, Columbia's TIF district, has been in existence since 1995. Recent developments include construction of the world headquarters for Maverick Technologies, opening of a branch of Reliance Bank, opening of the new Hampton Inn (Columbia's first hotel) and ongoing construction of a new CVS Pharmacy location.

The meeting begins at 2:00 p.m. in the second-floor Auditorium at Columbia City Hall, 208 South Rapp Ave.

City Leaders Upbeat Locally, Gloomy Globally

A new survey conducted by the National League of Cities underscores the old adage that "all politics are local." As reported today in USA Today, "City leaders are gloomy about the direction the country is heading," but remain "optimistic about the direction their cities are heading."

The survey found that 63% of city officials say they are pessimistic about the future, compared with 62% in 1992 and 19% in 2001. Although 62% say that global economic conditions have worsened in the past year, 84% are optimistic about the direction their cities are heading. The survey also found that 64% of city officials say health care is the most important issue the next presidential administration will face.

The survey also revealed that one-third of respondents say finding a way to finance services is the biggest issue they face.

Sounds Like A Plan

The Columbia City Council last evening approved the Community & Economic Development Department's 2009 Strategic Plan with a unanimous vote--here are the goals and objectives from the plan:

1. Encourage new businesses to form and grow in Columbia - develop program(s) to encourage and support local entrepreneurs, and facilitate development of business incubator services
2. Retain businesses in the City of Columbia by supporting their long-term success - encourage Columbia’s citizens to support local businesses, provide direct services to current businesses, and support expansion of current businesses through loans and incentives, where appropriate
3. Recruit new businesses to the community - maintain and distribute timely information on Columbia’s demographics, business mix, and economic potential, market available sites and buildings for businesses looking to expand and/or locate, and work with regional partners to recruit new offices/headquarters and retailers
4. Promote more commercial activity on Main Street - create an effective organizational structure for revitalization, enhance consistency/historic character of streetscape/signage and buildings, increase net number of Main St. businesses by 10%, and increase private investment in Main St. properties
5. Develop and market local tourist facilities that will entice visitors and locals to learn more about Columbia’s history and heritage
6. Expand resources for parks & recreational uses to make Columbia “a great place to play”
7. Develop and implement a long-term strategic plan for municipal buildings
8. Support community activities, celebrate milestones and add to the local quality of life

To support these goals and objectives, the Strategy proposes the following activities:

• Develop an entrepreneur’s roundtable
• Support “Think Monroe County First!”
• Maintain/expand Revolving Loan Fund
• Establish regular business consulting through the Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
• Develop and implement a business retention program
• Develop City policy for awarding incentives
• Update community profile with Illinois DCEO
• Maintain listings via Location One Information Services
• Participate in Leadership Council Southwest Illinois recruitment effort
• Coordinate recruitment efforts with the Monroe County E.D. Council
• Pursue designation as a Main Street community
• Pursue designation as a Certified Local Government
• Develop a new sign graphics program for Main Street
• Explore use of Historic Tax Credits in building renovation
• Develop Miller-Fiege Home as a historical museum
• Develop Shoemaker School House as a visitor center and museum
• Explore development of Old Distillery rum cavern as a tourist destination
• Develop a comprehensive program of grants, planned giving and other mechanisms to fund long-term improvements
• Pursue designation as a “Tree City USA” and a “Play City USA”
• Develop and implement a leasing and improvement plan for the Oak Street Community Building
• Explore highest and best use of other City-owned properties
• Support community efforts to recognize Columbia’s sesquicentennial
• Sponsor, support or participate in other community events

Most of these activities are already under way, while some will require development of more detail to be implemented.

Businesses: Help Customers 'Think Monroe County First!'

Local businesses support the community through employment, sales and property taxes, community service contributions, donations, and more, so spending money close to home benefits consumers as well as business owners and managers. The "Think Monroe County First!' campaign, sponsored by the Monroe County Economic Development Council and supported by the City of Columbia, seeks to help local residents realize--and act upon--that fact. Every dollar that Monroe County consumers spend locally casts a vote in favor of the future of this local community.

Local merchants are conducting an information blitz through point-of-sale contact as well as visibility in local media. In addition, the campaign has its own website, a blog that can help direct consumers to businesses they haven't yet found, and even a LinkedIn group to help coordinate efforts. Columbia merchants and agencies already involved in the program currently include the following:

• Action Graphics
• Agnes Ross
• City of Columbia
• Columbia Market
• Commercial State Bank of Waterloo
• First National Bank of Waterloo
• Dr. Anil Gupta
• Harres Furniture & Appliance
• Harrisonville Telephone Company
• MarketPlace Foods
• Mokka Kaffeehaus
• Tiny's Restaurant
• The Training Room & Monroe Physical Fitness
• Wagner Photography

Business owners in Columbia that do not yet appear on this list can get involved by signing up on the campaign website--the more the merrier!

Shopping Centers Launch Campaign to Boost Bricks-and-Mortar

Shoppers who buy from stores rather than over the Internet are, in effect, putting money into their own pockets--that's the message the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) hopes to get out through a new campaign to encourage consumers to patronize brick-and-mortar retailers. It's a message that can only help to reinforce local efforts to encourage consumers to "Think Monroe County First!" and spend dollars locally.

The campaign, titled “Give Your Community a Lift … Shop Locally for Your Gifts!” aims to remind shoppers that local retailers provide local jobs and support community-based civic and charitable organizations. “Many consumers shop online and avoid paying sales tax, and while this may appear to consumers as a way of saving a few dollars, in the end it may cost them more if local tax revenue is eroded and municipalities are forced to cut back on services,” says Michael Kercheval, ICSC’s President & CEO.

ICSC is encouraging malls to display posters and window and door clings, available from ICSC, to support this campaign. A one-minute public service announcement promoting the campaign will air this month on CNBC, CNN, Headline News, Fox News, MSNBC, The Weather Channel, Bloomberg and National First Business, as well as during ABC’s GMA Weekend, NBC’s Today Show Weekend and the Oprah Winfrey Show.

“Sales tax revenue is important to local communities, because it’s our life’s blood,” states Douglas H. Palmer, mayor of Trenton, New Jersey, in the television spot. “We need those kinds of moneys to provide the services, whether it’s police, fire, public works and all the other services that cities have to provide.”

Founded in 1957, ICSC is the global trade association of the shopping center industry. Its 75,000 members in the U.S., Canada and more than 80 other countries include shopping center owners, developers, managers, marketing specialists, investors, lenders, retailers and other professionals as well as academics and public officials.