Minutes 03/30/2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 30. 2010 As a city of limited developable land, we continue to work together to reinvent ourselves and to make better more efficient use of our available resources. As economic development has always been important to this City Council, your recent adoption of a resolution of priority stresses its importance even more. In concert with this new priority and strategic focus, economic development strategies are being planned for implementation in phases over the next 36 months. Per City Council's direction, an initiative that staff will undertake is the creation of an Economic Development Incentive Fund. In pursuing economic development, City Council recognizes that incentives are necessary to be competitive in a global economy. The use of incentives to stimulate economic development is a primary benefit of the City and is directly related to its interest in creating employment opportunities, increasing the tax base, and diversifying the mix of businesses in Portsmouth. The vision of a more comprehensive approach to development is being realized as a result of this Council adopting the innovative smart-growth development strategies, plans, and initiatives of Destination Portsmouth With the input of our citizens, we are proactively planning for our continued progress by building the foundation necessary to make Portsmouth the "Destination of Choice". We expect that our viability and attractiveness will be increased in areas including quality of life and economic vitality. The mixed-use development, Victory Village, which will be one of the largest of its kind in Virginia, has gained more notoriety and momentum with the January 2010 opening of the Tidewater Community College Portsmouth Campus. This Portsmouth corridor is expected to experience exponential growth within the upcoming years. One of the strategic initiatives of this administration is to connect Council's vision to service delivery through ANCHOR: Attaining Council's Vision; Neighborhood Preservation; Civic Engagement; Historic Preservation; Operational Excellence; and Regional Cooperation. Staff is building the administrative infrastructure that will support initiatives and spur progress. Our Obligations In the midst of our financial challenges we have still been able to maintain services and meet most of our funding obligations. Our sound financial policies coupled with prudent financial watch have resulted in our ability to forge ahead even in these grim economic times. In addition to meeting the expenses associated with the day-to-day operation of city government, our commitment is to pay our obligations, first, which include our debt service payments, Other Post Employment Benefits (OPEB), and pensions, and then move toward programmatic responsibilities. As a result of strategies implemented in FY10, City Council and this administration have been able to implement a plan that exceeds our obligation to provide adequate facilities for all courts. A unique financing opportunity between the city and the land developer and a continued contribution to the Courts' Complex Capital Reserve fund of one cent of the real estate tax rate in FY10 and almost three cents in FY11, have initiated the design and construction of a new $78 million courts facility at Port Centre. Due to excessive debt, the Southeastern Public Service Authority (SPSA) increased its tipping fee that was passed on to our residents in FY10. To reduce their debt and to liquidate assets, SPSA and its member localities voted to sell the Waste-to-Energy Facility which will in turn reduce the city's financial obligation to satisfy SPSA's outstanding debt. This sale is expected to be finalized in FY10. Although reduced, our SPSA debt continues as does the Environmental Protection Agency's regional consent order for Sanitary Sewer Overflow. Our Progress and Our Successes! Major accomplishments have been made in areas where City Council and staff have collaborated and placed major focus and priority. In September 2009, City Council adopted financial policies that are serving as our road map for sound fiscal responsibility.