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Oldham Ahead in the News

The Oldham Era:  Thursday, April 6, 2006

"Organization Seeks Capital Improvement Plan for County"

________________________________________________________________________________________

The Oldham Era Online:  Monday, January 03, 2005

The year in review: A look at the top 10 stories of 2004

It was a busy year for Oldham Countians.

Residents fought a local tax increase, county officials fought each other over appointment authority and 56 years of prohibition ended with passage of two ordinances governing restaurant alcohol sales. The following are our choices for the top 10 stories of 2004.

No. 10

OCEDA plans business campus

In April, the Oldham County Economic Development Authority disclosed it had purchased an option on 979 acres on the outskirts of La Grange to build an economic development campus.

The property touches New Moody Lane on the north and west, Moody Lane on the south and Ky. 53 on the east. Eagle Creek Golf Course is surrounded by, but not included in, the property, which is zoned conservation and residential.

OCEDA Director James Roark and the board of directors were embarking on what has been Roark's development mantra since he came to Oldham County a little more than a year ago -- to attract the types of businesses Oldham County wants, there needs to be a large publicly owned parcel of land.

In November, OCEDA unveiled a concept version of those plans to the public and gained input on the future of the proposed economic development campus.

The plan for the property shows mixed usage -- it includes residential areas, commercial areas, expanded golf courses, open space and a school site. Residents had the opportunity to speak to officials from OCEDA and of Scott/Klausing and Company Architects, the firm that designed the plan.

Officials have discussed the need for a larger business tax base in Oldham County. Information from Oldham Ahead, a non-profit citizens' advocacy group with an emphasis on land-use planning and growth management, shows most communities try to get a tax base in which 70 percent of taxes come from residential properties and 30 percent come from commercial properties.

According to the organization, a recently completed cost of community services study performed by Oldham Ahead found that Oldham County's tax base is 90 percent residential, 8 percent commercial and 2 percent farmland. 

September 29, 2004

Woodland Farm Announces Participation in the Kentucky Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (PACE)

Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown, owners of historic Woodland Farm in Goshen, Kentucky announced their participation in the Kentucky PACE program during a press conference at Woodland Farm this morning.  Mr. Wilson stated that his family is creating a conservation easement to preserve 244 acres of Woodland Farm's approximately 1,000 acres--a first step in protecting the entire farm from future development. 

The couple was instrumental in the founding of Oldham Ahead and are current board members.  They operate the Kentucky Bison Company, a nationally recognized breeding farm for American Bison on their farm  and are involved in land and historical preservation in Oldham County and Kentucky.

Steve Wilson Announcing Participation in the PACE Program

Additionally, a Kentucky Historical Society Marker was unveiled at the entrance to Woodland Farm, which dates back to the early 1800's.  Oldham Ahead President Prewitt Lane, in conjunction with the Kentucky Historical Society and the Kentucky Department of Transportation formally presented the marker during the press conference.  Oldham Ahead provided the marker to note the historical significance of Woodland Farm.

Oldham Ahead President Prewitt Lane Unveils Kentucky Historical Society Marker

In his remarks to the press and a gathering of the National Trust for Historic Preservation (meeting in Louisville this week), friends, and relatives, Mr. Wilson stated that it is exciting for his family to preserve the farm for agriculture purposes for perpetuity.  

Mr. Wilson also announced that he and Laura Lee Brown will create a committee to explore ways to provide funding for the PACE program.   They plan to fund a statewide poll to look at ways for private citizens to help the Kentucky state government fund the PACE program so the program will be viable with donations and the use of tax credits.  He stated, "we are proud to do this--our family members are wholeheartedly behind it."

       Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown operate a nationally recognized breeding farm for American Bison

Weds, June 2, 2004:

http://www.courierjournal.com/nabes/2004/06/02/G1-cost0602oc-6509.html

The question came up repeatedly in debates over growth management in Oldham County : How do residential development and other land uses affect public finances?

  Everybody seemed to know one thing for certain — residential areas do not pay their way. The cost of providing services, from roads to schools, outweighs the property taxes generated by that kind of land use.

  That's what studies on the cost of services for dozens of other communities showed. Results varied wildly, however.

  Some local leaders and residents decided that Oldham needed its own figures. It has those numbers in a new report being circulated by Oldham Ahead, which commissioned the American Farmland Trust to do the study.

  Oldham Ahead is a residents' group concerned about growth management and land preservation. The American Farmland Trust is a private, nonprofit conservation organization founded to protect important agricultural resources.

  The study, based on last year's property tax revenues and spending on county services, found that for each $1 of revenue received from residential properties, $1.05 was spent providing services to those lands. That was 10cents less than the national average of $1.15.

  For every $1 in taxes from commercial land uses, 29 cents was spent providing services. And for every $1 received from farmland, 44 cents was spent.

  Residential development generated 92percent of the revenue last year. Commercial land uses generated seven percent and farmland one percent. The report said that while farm, forests and open lands generate less revenue, they require little expenditure on public services.

  "While residential development contributes the largest amount of revenue, its net fiscal impact is negative because the total expenditures for that land use exceed the revenues," the study concluded. Commercial development revenue offsets the shortfall, the report said, while farmland revenue contributed to the balance.

  The study included spending by county government, schools, libraries, emergency services and the health department, but did not include any spending by the seven cities in Oldham County .

  The report also stressed that the conclusions are just a one-year fiscal "snapshot." It also said it did not try to evaluate the economic impact of the various kinds of land uses, such as home construction.

  The overriding message, said Oldham Ahead President Prewitt Lane , is not new — look at the big picture of the county and the problem of delivering services because of the imbalance in the tax base.

  The study showed Oldham doesn't have enough revenue from industrial and commercial development to "provide a high level of services in the county."

Lane said Oldham's below-average $1.05 figure for services in residential areas took him by surprise, especially compared with $1.64 spent in Lexington-Fayette County , where a similar study was done several years ago. But staff members from the farmland trust said the higher figure for Lexington simply reflected more services provided in a more urban county.

Asked whether some might be skeptical of a study by an organization that works to preserve farmland, Lane said the results show the findings were impartial and not skewed against development since the study found a below-average cost of service for residential areas.

The report itself said the results should not be used to "judge the value of one land use over another or to compare one type of new development to another."

Lane said Oldham Ahead will use the results, such as the financial benefits of farmland, in discussions with property owners interested in preserving land or in community discussions on growth issues.

The report's finding did not surprise James Roark, director of the Oldham County Economic Development Authority. "It re-emphasizes the need to attract business investment," he said, to achieve a better balance in the county tax base between residential and commercial and industrial land uses.

Roark said the study's findings indicate the imbalance is getting worse.

The Oldham development authority's figures from 2002 showed that 86percent of property tax revenue came from residential uses. The new study says that percentage in 2003 was 92percent.

"The fact that it is already up to 92percent shows the gap is widening quicker than we projected," Roark said.

The development authority has estimated it would be up to 88percent by 2009. The authority's goal is a 70-30 split between residential and business use.

Judge-Executive Mary Ellen Kinser said Lane has briefed her on the report, but she has not read it all. She said it was interesting to see that the cost of services to residential areas wasn't as high as expected.

But she also has questions about the methods used to determine the cost of services. For example, she said, there are hundreds of home-based businesses, raising questions about whether costs should be attributed to a residential or commercial classification.

The study also does not consider issues like the difference in maintaining older roads in more rural areas as opposed to newer roads in recently developed subdivisions, she said.

Friday, May 07, 2004

 The Oldham Era

  OCEDA begins plans for business campus

  By Christopher Carpenter

 http://www.oldhamera.com/articles/2004/05/07/news/news03.txt

The Oldham County Economic Development Authority disclosed this week it has purchased an option on 979 acres on the outskirts of La Grange to build an economic development campus.

The Request for Proposals advertised in today's issue of The Oldham Era sets mid-2005 as a target date for development to begin for the mixed-use campus, and seeks a master developer to partner with. The property touches New Moody Lane on the north and west, Moody Lane on the south and Ky. 53 on the east. Eagle Creek Golf Course is surrounded by, but not included in, the property, which is zoned conservation and residential.

OCEDA Director James Roark and the board of directors are about to embark on what has been Roark's development mantra since he came to Oldham County a little more than a year ago - to attract the types of businesses Oldham County wants, there needs to be a large publicly owned parcel of land.

Roark said OCEDA purchased the option on the land from Badgett Holdings Ltd., an investment company located in Madisonville . Records at the Oldham County Property Valuation Administrator's office show that Badgett Holdings owns 1,119.085 acres in Oldham County with a total resale value of $5.359 million.

Roark said he could not disclose how much OCEDA paid for the option or how long the option is for.

It will take at least 10 years to completely develop the property, according to the RFP.

Developers have until June 1 to submit proposals. Final selection will occur by June 18. There will be a required pre-proposal conference May 11 for interested developers at the offices of Tetra Tech in Louisville .

Roark said OCEDA is looking for a master developer to enter into a public-private partnership with the organization. Roark said while the details of the arrangement have yet to be determined, the partnership gives OCEDA a voice in the property's development and brings a private developer's expertise in attracting businesses to the table.

Roark said since he came to Oldham County , he has emphasized the need to get a large, publicly owned piece of land to attract the kind of Class-A development Oldham County needs.

Roark said he does not want to be specific about what type of development he would like to see in the area because he does not want to influence responses to the RFP.

The advertisement for proposals describes the project as a mixed-use development. When Roark talks about the concept, he uses maps and slips of paper representing businesses to illustrate the idea. Like an excited child absorbed in a board game, Roark moves a conceptual mall from one side of the interstate to the other, placing it first next to a corporate headquarters and then in a vacant lot a mile away.

Roark said mixed-use covers a wide variety of businesses, including but not limited to corporate offices, retail, light manufacturing and government services. He said he does not expect the property to be filled by distribution centers or warehouses.

According to the RFP, OCEDA is negotiating with "a potential anchor tenant to locate a Class-A corporate headquarters on approximately 40-50 acres of the optioned property."

Because that deal is still in negotiation, Roark said he did not want to disclose who the potential anchor client is.

Roark said because Oldham County has a highly educated population and because the schools produce high-achieving students, intellectual capital is the common thread that will run through whatever businesses eventually settle on the campus.

Roark said he believes economic conditions are favorable for filling this type of development.

OCEDA expects a number of proposals from developers for the property, Roark said.

Roark said local government has expressed support for the project.

Judge-Executive Mary Ellen Kinser said she sees both potential benefits and drawbacks if the project is successful.

"If a huge piece of land can jump-start a corporate business park, I think that's important to the county," Kinser said.

At the same time, Kinser said she does not think government should compete with private developers to attract businesses to the area.

Kinser said she would be interested in how the public-private partnership OCEDA is looking for will be arranged.

If OCEDA guides all potential businesses to the proposed development, private developers may leave the area, Kinser said.

Roark said if the project is successful, the rest of the county will be able to capitalize on its success. The Oldham County Business Park , located across the interstate from the proposed site, would be a nice complement to what OCEDA is planning, Roark said.

A major benefit of recruiting businesses to Oldham County is the balance it would bring to the tax base, Roark said.

Prewitt Lane Jr., president of Oldham Ahead, a non-profit citizens' advocacy group with an emphasis on land-use planning and growth management, said homes require more services than businesses and contribute less in taxes to the county.

Lane said most communities try to get a tax base in which 70 percent of taxes come from residential properties and 30 percent come from commercial properties.

Lane said a recently completed cost of community services study performed by Oldham Ahead found that Oldham County 's tax base is 90 percent residential, 8 percent commercial and 2 percent farmland.

Roark said he is aware of the Oldham Ahead study and of the disparity between residential and commercial development.

"This is an attempt to try to balance that," Roark said.