City Ink: Augusta Commission members say ‘slum’ is not an indictment for downtown | The Augusta Chronicle

Life is filled with irony, is it not? City officials are paying consultants $6,000 a month to promote and “rebrand” the Laney Walker-Bethlehem revitalization district, but are willing to call downtown Augusta a “slum.”

Not to worry though. In this case, the word “slum” by any other name is “an area needing re-development,” according to Jim Plunkett, the city’s outside counsel who helped prepare the documents that could create an Urban Redevelopment Area downtown. And with that, the city would be eligible to issue $26.5 million in tax-exempt revenue bonds to complete renovations at the Marble Palace.

“It’s not an indictment of downtown Augusta,” Plunkett said. “It’s not a slum in the sense of what you think when you hear the word ‘slum.’ It’s an area that has buildings that need improvement. That’s what the statute requires you to say to create a URA.”

Attorneys and City Administrator Fred Russell looked for other ways to finance the renovations because slum is a “troubling word,” Plunkett said.

Some folks suspect there are ulterior motives for creating the district, and that it will allow downtown property owners to get their property fixed up for free. Plunkett, however said, “There’s no free money in this deal. There always has to be a revenue source to pay bond debt.”

It does, however, pave the way for the city to use various other redevelopment tools, according to Augusta Chronicle Staff Writer Susan McCord.

via City Ink: Augusta Commission members say ‘slum’ is not an indictment for downtown | The Augusta Chronicle.