Week of October 6, 2011
| With Genting casino in view, Miami-Dade eyes redevelopment area tax jackpot By Ashley Hopkins and Scott BlakeMiami-Dade wants a bigger slice of the revenue pie from Genting Group's planned $3 billion casino resort in downtown Miami. The county commission voted Tuesday to try to raise the county's share of property taxes from the Omni Redevelopment Area, which would be home to the resort. The site now includes the Miami Herald, the Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and Omni bus depot. The board voted 10-0, with Chairman Joe Martinez, Bruno Barreiro and Rebeca Sosa absent, to renegotiate its deal with the City of Miami and the Omni Community Redevelopment Agency. The agreement governs how incremental taxes from the Omni district are split among the three. The increment is calculated each year based on increases to property values within the zone above the base year. The Omni's base year is 1986, which now yields $18 million to $20 million a year in incremental tax revenue, according Omni Redevelopment Agency Chairman Marc Sarnoff. However, the Genting project would raise that dramatically. Under the current agreement, the Omni Redevelopment Agency gets 95% of incremental taxes from the district, the city 3% and the county 2%. During Tuesday's meeting, commissioners discussed hiking the county's share to at least 45% but didn't settle on a final number. However, Commissioner Xavier Suarez said after the meeting that the county wants an even larger slice and that the Omni Redevelopment Agency should be phased out. In addition, Tuesday's resolution calls for the county to renegotiate the agreement to provide "additional fiscal areas to benefit the county." County officials also are interested in having a county commissioner join the Omni Redevelopment Agency board, which now is the five-member Miami City Commission. To read the entire issue of Miami Today online, subscribe to e -Miami Today, an exact digital replica of the printed edition. |
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