At Tuesday’s meeting, the City of Griffin Board of Commissioners will be asked to consider a resolution to induce The Kroger Co. to construct a new retail center on W. Taylor Street (Georgia Highway 16), by providing for the issuance of tax allocation district bonds not to exceed $2 million. The intent is to reimburse expenditures relating to project costs from bond proceeds, according to the request on meeting agenda.
The development includes a 94,000 square-foot store with a bank, pharmacy, clinic and a Starbuck’s coffee shop. The new store will be larger that the existing 44,000 square-foot location store on North Expressway, with 200 to 215 employees, 70 more than at the current store, the developer said back in August when the city commissioners unanimously approved a rezoning request from Sofran Group.
The bonds would be paid back with future property taxes within the existing West Griffin Village Tax Allocation District, where the proposed site is located. The site is next to Lowe’s, between Poplar and Taylor streets.
The city can do this pursuant to the Redevelopment Powers Act, which according to the Georgia Municipal Association gives local governments the authority to sell bonds to finance infrastructure and other redevelopment costs within a specifically defined area (a tax allocation district). The bonds are secured by a “tax allocation increment,” which GMA explains as the increase in property tax revenues resulting from the redevelopment activities taking place within the tax allocation district.
Tax increment financing, according to the GMA, allows cities to charge the costs of constructing public facilities and infrastructure directly to the businesses that use them rather than the public at large. In return, the businesses benefit from the construction of facilities that might not otherwise be available to them.
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