Council approves Dollar Tree and Swafford Chapter 100 industrial revenue bonds; Harps amendment later approved

The Richmond City Council approved Taxable Industrial Revenue Bonds (Chapter 100) and supporting documents for two private retail development projects in 2017.

Toni Stegeman of Gilmore & Bell presented the legal documents for Swafford Trustmark; the ordinance authorizing issuance of Taxable Industrial Revenue Bonds for the Swafford project (Bill 17-18) passed unanimously. Separately, the council approved issuance of Taxable Industrial Revenue Bonds for the Dollar Tree project (Bill 17-28); both approvals include standard lease/leaseback and development-agreement documents that enable property tax abatement under Chapter 100 arrangements.

Later in the year the council approved an amendment to the Swafford development agreement to reflect scheduling and financing updates; the minutes show unanimous approval. Council also considered an amendment relating to Harps Food Stores and later approved an economic-development amendment for Harps (Bill 17-39) and accepted an application for a package-liquor license pending state approval.

Why it matters: Chapter 100 transactions allow local governments to use limited tax abatement as an inducement for private development. These approvals transfer fee-simple title for bond issuance and set the framework for developer reimbursements or PILOT payments spelled out in each development agreement.

Next steps: Projects proceed to financing and construction per developer schedules; the city’s role is to execute bond documents, monitor compliance with development agreements and record any tax-impact analyses included in the public record.