NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
APPLICATION REGARDING CREATION OF
THE RIDGES ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT
A public hearing will be held at a special meeting of The County Commission of Mercer County, West Virginia (the “County Commission”), on Wednesday, July 26, 2023, at 6:00 p.m., in Judge William Sadler’s Courtroom located at the Mercer County Courthouse, 1501 West Main Street, Princeton, West Virginia 24740, and at such hearing any person interested may appear and present comments, protests and suggestions and otherwise express their views respecting an application regarding the creation of an economic opportunity development district to be designated as “The Ridges Economic Opportunity Development District” (the “Excise Tax District”) in Mercer County, West Virginia, and the approval of the Projects (as defined below) for the Excise Tax District. All comments, protests, suggestions and views shall be heard and the County Commission shall thereafter take such actions as it shall deem proper in the premises regarding the approval pursuant to Chapter 7, Article 22 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended (the “Act”), respecting the application regarding the creation of the Excise Tax District and the approval of the Projects. The following is a brief summary of such matters.
Creation of Excise Tax District
The proposed Excise Tax District is comprised of approximately 390 acres of real property located generally between Pisgah and Halls Ridge Roads in Mercer County, West Virginia, as set forth on the map below, including the specifically delineated Excise Tax District boundary.
Purpose of Excise Tax District
The purpose of the Excise Tax District is to facilitate the design, permitting, acquisition, construction, renovation, and equipping of site, infrastructure, and other capital improvements that will facilitate development within, or for the benefit of, the Excise Tax District, including, without limitation, site acquisition, remediation, site preparation, cut and fill, site infrastructure, earthwork, new roads and improvement and relocation of existing roads, including without limitation, intersection improvements, curbing, bridges, traffic control, and lighting, and other related infrastructure, water lines, water works facilities, sanitary sewer lines, sewerage facilities, stormwater facilities, wetlands mitigation, electric, natural gas, telecommunications, cable, fiber optics, and other utility improvements and utility relocations, demolition, community facilities, streetscaping, including but not limited to intersection improvements, sidewalks, curbing and guttering, street lighting and traffic signals, other improvements to infrastructure, and the costs of planning, acquiring, constructing and equipping certain athletic facilities, including without limitation, outdoor recreation facilities, fields, parks, and/or stadiums, and all necessary appurtenances and amenities within or benefitting the proposed Excise Tax District (collectively, the “Project”), by the Development Authority of Mercer County (the “Developer”) or such sub-developers, contractors and/or other public or private parties as shall be approved by the County Commission, in an effort to attract new investments in the development and redevelopment of the land and properties within the Excise Tax District and surrounding areas. The Projects may be acquired and constructed in several phases.
Proposed Method of Financing
To finance all or a portion of the costs of the Projects, the County Commission proposes to issue bonds or other obligations (the “Financing Obligations”) with maturities not to exceed 30 years from the date of the creation of the Excise Tax District. Such obligations may be issued from time to time in one or more series. Proceeds of the Financing Obligations are generally planned and expected to be used to (i) finance the costs of the Projects, including architectural, engineering, legal and other professional fees and expenses; (ii) fund reserves for the Financing Obligations; (iii) fund capitalized interest on the Financing Obligations; and (iv) pay costs of issuance of the Financing Obligations, including costs related to the creation of the Excise Tax District and preparation and approval of the Projects and related costs. The Financing Obligations would be payable from and secured by a special district excise tax, which the County Commission may be authorized to impose by the West Virginia Legislature pursuant to Section 9 of the Act and other funds which may be deposited to the credit of the Economic Opportunity Development District Fund subaccount created for the Excise Tax District and maintained by the State Treasurer pursuant to Section 8 of the Act (the “Excise Tax District Fund”). A portion of the costs of the Projects may also be paid directly from special district excise tax revenues and other funds deposited to the credit of the Excise Tax District Fund.
The base of the special district excise tax which may be imposed by the County Commission for the Excise Tax District shall be identical to the base of the consumers sales and service tax imposed pursuant to Chapter 11, Article 15 of the Code of West Virginia, 1031, as amended (the “Sales Tax Act”). Except for the exemption provided in Section 9(f) of the Sales Tax Act, all exemptions and exceptions from the consumers sales and service tax also apply to the special district excise tax. The rate of the special district excise tax shall be identical to the rate or rates of the consumers sales and service tax imposed by the Sales Tax Act on sales made and services rendered within the boundaries of the Excise Tax District.
Further information regarding the proposed Excise Tax District, the Projects and the Financing Obligations are on file and available for inspection at the Office of the Clerk of the County Commission of Mercer County, West Virginia, during regular business hours, located at the County Clerk’s office in the Mercer County Courthouse, 1501 West Main Street, Princeton, West Virginia.
Dated: June 13, 2023
By: /s/ Verlin Moye
County Clerk
ID: 717397