By Janice Podsada
Herald Writer
LYNNWOOD — The South Snohomish County Public Facilities District has purchased its first piece of property, launched a Web site and announced it will have public meetings to explain that the planned conference center won’t result in new taxes.
The district purchased a 12-acre strip mall, Alderwood Village, this week for $8.5 million, district chairman Mike Echelbarger said.
The mall, at 196th Street SW and 36th Avenue SW, is just north of a former Cadillac dealership and showroom that the public facilities district hopes to purchase, but the price is in dispute.
The price will be determined in April in Snohomish County Superior Court.
Under the district’s plan, the automobile showroom would be converted into a conference center.
Alderwood Village houses about 20 business tenants, which will continue operating despite the sale. The district expects to collect more than $500,000 a year in rent from the tenants.
"The businesses are there to stay," Echelbarger said.
However, Echelbarger said at some point the area could be used for expansion of the center and for parking.
City revenues were not used to make the purchase, Lynnwood finance director Mike Bailey said. Funds will be obtained through a sales tax rebate from the state.
In 1999, a state law authorized public facilities districts to receive state funds. The districts collect .033 percent on state sales tax revenues, or 33 cents for every $100. The amount can be collected for 25 years.
The South Snohomish County Public Facilities District was formed by the Lynnwood City Council in 1999 to operate the center. Each year, the district collects about $530,000 from the state in sales tax rebate money that would otherwise remain with the state, Bailey said.
The district also launched a Web site this week to update its progress. It can be found at www.sscpfd.org.
You can call Herald Writer Janice Podsada at 425-339-3029 or send e-mail to podsada@heraldnet.com.
In April, the South Snohomish County Public Facilities District plans two public meetings to explain its role and the planned conference center in Lynnwood, spokesman Hartly Kruger said.
Kruger said the district’s intent is to deliver the message that construction of the conference center will not result in increased taxes for city residents.
Both meetings will cover the same information.
The meetings will be held:
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