Council approves $91,000 Brownfield repayment to general fund

The Trenton City Council approved a $91,000 repayment on Dec. 22, covering a 2005 $65,000 general fund advance to the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority plus $26,000 calculated as 2% interest, city controller Miss Cooper said.

Cooper told the council the advance had been intended to be repaid with interest from tax increment revenue captured by the brownfield district. "We haven't had any active parcels in more than 10 years, and therefore, there hasn't been any TIF revenue to apply towards the repayment," she said. Cooper said the brownfield fund nevertheless has sufficient resources to satisfy the outstanding obligation.

Cooper said historical documents did not specify an interest rate, so she and a colleague used a conservative 2% assumption to calculate the interest figure. Council members moved and supported the repayment, which was approved on the record.

The repayment restores the general fund advance but will be drawn from the Brownfield Redevelopment Authority’s resources because the district has not generated TIF revenue to repay the loan. The council did not discuss alternative funding sources at the meeting.