Athens-Clarke County Commissioners could vote next week on a plan to prop up the North Athens Downtown Development Project after developers projected a $13.7 million funding gap.
Unforeseen skyrocketing construction costs have pushed the project’s price tag up by over $13 million. Athens Housing Authority CEO Rick Parker told commissioners on Tuesday that the project’s organizers have managed to close up about $4.1 million of the shortfall, and that there was a possibility of another $4 million in state funding available, although not that isn’t guaranteed.
"I want to be as truthful and transparent as I possibly can," Parker told lawmakers. "Let's not overlook the fact that until July, we will not know with certainty."
If the state money comes through, that would leave a hole of about $5.2 million. Mayor Kelly Girtz offered a solution to the problem, involving taking about $1.7 million from each of three buckets of money available to the county.
"We have more than $5 million remaining in the balance of the SPLOST 2020 affordable housing program," Girtz told commissioners. "And again, that would leave sufficient funds for other projects. We have the $11 million we've already allocated to affordable housing from American Rescue Plan Act fund, and then we have about $4.2 to $4.5 million of unallocated American Rescue Plan Act dollars that we just haven't put in any pot at all."
Some commissioners had questions about the strategy. District 6’s Jesse Houle noted that using SPLOST money exclusively might be a better option.
"I guess in my mind anything that SPLOST can go to, ARPA can also go to, but ARPA can go to a lot more than SPLOST can," said Houle.
District 5’s Tim Denson suggested that the plan to pull money from three different sources might be an unnecessary complication.
Girtz said that splitting the measure between the three sources leaves money in all three buckets for other housing initiatives.
"My hope is that we then have plenty of remaining funds in each of those pots to do other things," Girtz said. "What I didn't want to do is completely encumber SPLOST.
Commissioners could vote on the spending measure next week.
