South Windsor - Evergreen Walk
The town of South Windsor needed to determine the financial impacts of a proposed mixed-use development and then communicate the findings to residents. The Economic Development Commission hired CERC to conduct a fiscal impact analysis, to present the findings at a public meeting, to provide a PowerPoint for commission members to use in other meetings and to create a video to run on public access about the development, called Evergreen Walk.
Description:
The Evergreen Walk developer planned to create a 230-acre mixed-use development incorporating a 250-room hotel, retail and office space, and an indoor recreational facility in South Windsor. The Economic Development Commission, prior to supporting the development, requested a fiscal impact analysis of the project on the town detailing expected costs and revenues. When the results of that analysis proved positive fiscally, and the EDC later decided to support the development, South Windsor hired CERC to create a program for use on public access television that highlighted the developer's plans and the fiscal and lifestyle benefits of Evergreen Walk.
Issues:
South Windsor's residential population is somewhat reticent about development. In the past, significant development opportunities have been lost due to public opposition. The overriding concern involves quality of life and the possibility that development may negatively impact this quality. The town needed a way to assess the municipal costs and revenues attributed to the proposed development. The revenues the town would receive include permits, utility connection fees and property taxes. However, there also would be costs associated with the development, such as improving and maintaining municipal infrastructure, and increases in demand for services in the police, fire and public works departments.
While the results of the analysis were presented at a public meeting and articles appeared in local newspapers, town staff and volunteer commission members were finding that many residents were unaware of the different components of the development and the proposed "look and feel" of Evergreen Walk. Many also were unaware of the fiscal impact analysis and its results.
Deliverables:
The Evergreen Walk analysis assumed that construction of the development was complete and looked at costs and revenues over a 20-year time period to analyze potential. The costs and revenues attributed to the development were in terms of net present value to facilitate the comparison.
The findings were reported by CERC at a Town Council meeting, and the CERC research team provided a detailed written report. A member of the Economic Development Commission received a PowerPoint presentation, training and support for presenting the findings of the research to various civic groups at other meetings on the subject. In addition, CERC's marketing team assisted the town in preparing a communications plan to educate the public about the findings from which the program for public access was selected for implementation.
The program is a six-minute overview including comments from economic development commission members, the town manager, the chamber of commerce president, and local business owners and residents. Architectural designs and sketches are shown, as is the property itself. It ran on channel 15 in South Windsor and surrounding communities in August 2003.
Outcomes:
The report showed that once completed, the development would generate $3 million in property tax revenue annually and double the town's commercial grand list. Over 20 years, expected costs would be approximately $4.4 million, while revenues would be nearly $42 million, netting the town more than $37 million, not including revenues from personal property taxes and construction fees. After months of additional review and public comment, the town agreed to pursue the development. The deliberations on this topic were influenced significantly by the results of CERC's fiscal impact analysis, which enabled the town of South Windsor to base its decision on a rigorous analysis and with a complete understanding of the project's impact on the town's budget.
Please visit the town of South Windsor's web site for more information.