Notes
Slide Show
Outline
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Madison Community Update
  • presented by
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Base Realignment & Closure (BRAC)
  • Bringing additional major commands & thousands of new jobs to our area in the very near future
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BRAC Move Dates & Numbers*
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Making BRAC Successful
  • Sustainable growth
    • Prevent new development from overloading schools & roads
    • Place the community’s needs first
  • Economic Development
    • Bring a greater variety of businesses to Madison & increase sales tax revenues
  • Education
    • Keep City schools among best in the state
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BRAC Impacts of Development
  • The estimated cost of initial capital needed to prepare for BRAC is broken down into 6 general categories:
    • Road construction & improvements
    • Public Safety buildings & vehicles
    • Public Works building & equipment
    • Park acreage (3 per 1000 residents)
    • Additional public school classrooms
    • Water & wastewater infrastructure expansion/enhancements
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BRAC Impacts of Development
(per new household)
  • Roads:  $  2,246
  • Public Safety:  $    653
  • Public Works:  $    245
  • Parks & Recreation:  $    510
  • Schools:  $  7,150
  • Water & Wastewater $  3,000
  • Total new household impact: $ 13,804
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Cost Recovery
  • Total Capital Cost Impact of BRAC (2,500 households) = $34.51 million
  • Cost Recovery
    • Water & Sewer Impact Fees $6.25 million
    • Sales tax on building materials $5.25 million
  • Net Non-recovered Cost = $23.01 million ($9,204 per household)
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Preparing for BRAC
  • Working closely with leaders at local, state & national level to prioritize & coordinate BRAC planning activities
  • Restructuring Capital Improvement Project (CIP) list to focus on essential infrastructure needed to accommodate growth acceleration
  • Continuing to develop & enforce “smart growth” policies & programs
  • Incorporating BRAC-related growth projections into economic development initiatives
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Intergovernmental Cooperation
  • Combining or consolidating services where it makes sense
    • County-wide library system, landfill, electric service, EMA, and 911 (need seats on Library, EMA, and 911 Boards - being worked)
    • County provides garbage pickup for Madison
    • One additional area where could have combined services is sewage treatment Should also standardize public safety communications
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Millage Rates in Madison
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What Does “Millage Rate” Mean?
  • 1.0 mill of property tax costs $1.00 for each $1000 of assessed value.
  • The assessed value of a residence is 10 percent of the appraised value, i. e.        assessed value = 0.1 x appraised value.  Note:  There is a reduction in appraised value for the homestead exemption.
  • Commercial property is assessed at 20 percent and utilities at 30 percent.
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Sample Property Tax Breakdown
  • On a $300,000 Madison home, the annual property tax in Madison County is about $1,677.
  • Of that $1,677 . . .
    • $185 goes to the State
    • $788 goes to the County
    • $704 goes to the City; of that,
      • $324 goes to Madison City Schools
      • $204 is a General Tax
      • $162 goes to the Water & Wastewater Board
      • $14 goes to the Library
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Sustainable Growth
  • The growth that we are currently experiencing, in addition to the growth to come as a result of BRAC, can be beneficial, but we must be careful to ensure that it is controlled, sustainable growth that contributes to the overall economic development of the community
    • Make growth pay for itself as much as possible
      • $13,804 capital impact from every new house (schools, water, sewer, fire trucks, etc.)
      • Assess appropriate fees on growth (building permit fees hiked from $250/house to 0.8% now, increasing to 1.0% in 2007)
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Making Growth Pay for Itself
  • Water/sewer impact fees hiked 58% for residential and eliminated for retail commercial.
  • Costs City approx $2000/house/year to provide services; property tax covers about 17% of that
    • 45% of General Fund revenue is sales tax, so we have to boost sales tax base
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Economic Development
  • Shop Madison First initiative
  • Economic Development incentives
  • Online information & forms for opening new business
  • Aggressive campaign to market Madison to retail industry & attract new business
  • Cooperation with Water & Wastewater Board & other utilities on establishment of services for commercial enterprises
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City Status Snapshot
  • Bond (credit) rating is very good (A-1 Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s)
  • Shortage of capital funds means fewer road projects will be done and they will take longer
  • Operating budget is adequate with healthy fund reserves
  • Operations efficiency has been dramatically improved with substantial savings
  • Emphasis on retail development is starting to yield significant results
  • Cooperation with Huntsville, Madison County, and State and Federal delegations has never been better
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Conclusion
  • The Tennessee Valley’s rapid growth rate is accelerating as a result of the BRAC decision.
  • Key initiatives are already underway to address opportunities & challenges of rapid growth:
    • Sustainable growth initiatives
    • Economic development incentives
    • Intergovernmental/interagency cooperation
    • Infrastructure improvements
    • Regional planning & coordination
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Appendix A
  • Millage Rates
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Millage Rates in Madison