By Paul Minnis, The Republic
pminnis@therepublic.com
The amount and method of Columbus' financial contribution toward a downtown Cummins parking garage should be settled by April or May, when groundbreaking tentatively is planned.
Tom Vujovich, president of the city Redevelopment Commission, said informal discussions with City Council members reveal they will do what it takes to make Cummins' plans a reality to bring 500 jobs to a planned office building in The Commons.
But the City Council has not voted yet on how much money to give. Mayor Fred Armstrong said the council has been asked to commit a maximum of $4 million toward the expected construction price of $8 million to $8.5 million.
Also, the city must decide on a funding mechanism for whatever it decides to give, including the chance for some sort of bonding.
One option would be for the city to take out a simple bond and for the city Redevelopment Commission to take over the payments one day when financially able.
Redevelopment Commission, which heads the Vision 20/20 plan for downtown development, gets its money from property taxes generated in the city's tax-increment financing districts, which include downtown.
"We'll meet with our legal counsel on this," Vujovich said. "We need to know all the financial options available for how to proceed.
"We don't know yet if we'll bring in enough excess revenue to take over any payments. We may have to give up on other opportunities if we pursued that option."
Cummins Inc. on Wednesday announced plans to occupy an office building in the future Commons and staff it with 500 employees earning an $80,000 average salary.
Those employees require parking, and Cummins officials have said they would not have located in downtown if not for the promise of a new parking garage.
It would be the second parking garage in Columbus. A public garage is being built on Jackson Street, between Fourth and Fifth streets. Cummins' garage would be open to the public after hours and weekends.
Cummins' 500-car, four-deck garage will be in the parking lot directly west of the courthouse and bounded by Second, Third, Jackson and Brown streets.
Officials have said the remaining money needed to build the garage, aside from the city contribution, would come from state grants and a donation from Lawrenceburg Regional Economic Development Fund.
Vujovich said garage construction would start by May and take about eight months. It would be ready by the time Cummins opens in the rebuilt Commons in the spring of 2009.
City Council member Ann DeVore said she would support giving the full $4 million as the city's share, because the economic impact of 500 well-paid jobs is huge.
City Council members informally have indicated they would approve a $6 million bond for the rebuilding of the public portion of The Commons.
The city has a bonding capacity of $12.7 million, which means the capacity would be diminished to $2.7 million if the City Council handled all bonding itself.
Armstrong said the city's Parks and Recreation Department, which has its own bonding ability, could assume some of the costs, especially for that portion related to the indoor playground.
City Council President Martha Myers said the council did not bond more than $6 million for The Commons because its members wanted to leave some bonding capacity in case of an emergency.
Cummins' decision to bring so many jobs to downtown is a justifiable use of that money, Myers said.