LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Policy Lessons for West Des Moines City Leaders in Michael's Landing Debacle

To the editor:

After reading the article on West Des Moines Patch (“West Des Moines OKs Development Agreement on Former Michael’s Landing Property,” Oct 18), I have a few comments to share:

While I understand the desire of area residents to have basic infrastructure, I am disappointed with the city’s approved solution and use of TIF (tax increment financing) money.

Do you have feedback on a West Des Moines Patch article? Submit your letter to the editor to beth.dalbey@patch.com.

I hope we learn some lessons for the future about responsible growth and covering our bases with developers required to carry bonded insurance for completing their development conditions. It should be the insurance companies bailing out defaulted developers – not taxpayers being asked to bailout stranded property owners using TIF.

I’m having a hard time understanding why I’m paying $17,000 to install sewer in my neighborhood with development deals like this one being approved. Is the city essentially subsidizing sewer for this deal?

The developer in my neighborhood failed to install sewer. I’d like to have our sewer installed with a TIF deal. Sounds like a great solution.  Let’s just divert my tax dollars and those of about 50 neighbors to get that job done.

I agree with many of Councilman Kevin Trevillyan’s comments. In my opinion, I’d characterize this bailout as too much of a “heads the developer wins” and tails “the city looses.”

What would have been a better, more equitable arrangement was a sharing of the upside of the developer in the event more houses can be sold – full build-out and the city taxpayers are fully reimbursed for their investment without TIF money, or something along those lines.  

I get the impression that the city staff and the council still think TIF money is virtually “free money” and doesn’t consider the “dilutive” impacts it can have on our base services over time, particularly if the governor gets his way on shifting the commercial property tax burden.

Using TIF to do residential, except maybe in blighted areas, makes no sense, in my opinion. Commercial developers will have fewer advantages as the burden on that sector is equalized with other property classes.

I hope we learn some lessons here about “sustainable” growth. Just because something is “planned” doesn’t make it responsible. I hope we don’t continue to approve more leap frog development.

As a taxpayer, my first priority is for good schools and stable property tax burdens growing at or near the rate of inflation versus encouraging horizontal sprawl driven by developers trying to make too much money, too fast, and a city overly focused on trying to get big because we all know bigger is better, right?

We have the wreckage of quite a few of those failed developers around us and in the news. Still. We can see how long it takes to untangle a mess.

What was the Council’s role in assisting some of those flameouts? I’m hopeful we’ll learn some lessons at the policy level so we can avoid another Michael’s Landing debacle.
– John Norwood, West Des Moines