By Katie Stallcup

Published: March 18, 2008

An agreement that would allow developers to issue $20 million in bonds and repay them with future tax dollars will be addressed tonight.

The development, called West Pace, at Exit 51 in Auburn is billed as an upscale shopping center, similar to The Summit in Birmingham.

In a separate issue, access to the development from Shell Toomer Parkway still has not been confirmed, state officials have said.

The agreement between the city’s Commercial Development Authority and the developers, headed by Tom Hayley, would allow the development’s special district to issue bonds to pay for the infrastructure.

A similar agreement was tabled at the Feb. 5 council meeting for reworking, city officials said.

The revised agreement allows issuing bonds once rather than multiple times, Auburn Economic Devel-opment Director Phillip Dunlap said.

“They’ll issue about $20 million in bonds through the improvement district,” Dunlap said.

The bonds issued will be repaid with future sales taxes.

The agreement has a blank space for the amount of taxes the developers can’t exceed. That blank will be filled in after the city council has approved the agreement, Dunlap said.

The development will be able to use 45.5 percent of the taxes it generates to repay the bonds, he said. School taxes won’t go toward the payments.

The tax sharing is performance-based, Dunlap said.

“If there’s no taxes to share, then the developer will be required to pay back the bonds out of assessments on his property,” he said.

Hayley said he thought the agreement was “very fair.” The project would go forward, whether or not the agreement did, he said.

“This isn’t about the money for us,” Hayley said. “This is about an opportunity for Auburn.”

The agreement is contingent upon the development’s annexation into the city, City Manager Charlie Duggan said

“It’s not a question of if it’s developed,” Duggan said. “It’s a question of to what standards. By bringing it into the city, we will be able to place our zoning and building standards on (the development).”

The development also means future tax revenues for the city, he said.

An easement for access from the development onto Shell Toomer Parkway hasn’t been granted, State Parks Director Mark Easterwood said last month. The department of conservation owns the parkway. In order to cross the state parkway with a driveway or utilities, an easement is needed, he said.

“We’re in the process of following those (legal) guidelines,” Hayley said. “… Access isn’t what my focus is at this time. We’re following the process (of getting access). It involves legalities and consideration of the gift the Paces gave (to the city). It’s not a big deal for us. We’re going to get access some way.”

To read the agreement, vsit http://www.auburnalabama.org.