City rejects plan to help fund furniture mart

Diana Sahagun

Friday, May 25, 2001 | 11:26 a.m.

The city of Las Vegas won't provide financial support to the World Market Center, a downtown furniture mart expected to cost more than $700 million to build.

Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said Thursday he has rejected a proposal by the developer, Furniture Mart Enterprises, which had asked for a tax increment from the city to help fund the 57-acre project.

"All I can do is say to them that we welcome them to the community ... ." Goodman said. "But I'm not prepared to make them any other concessions at this point."

Dana Pretner, a spokeswoman for Furniture Mart Enterprises, said the developers have not been told of the mayor's reaction to the proposal. She said the developers were told that a decision on the financial proposal would be voted on by the council next month.

With a tax increment, the city would provide the company some of the expected property tax revenue up front. Although the city would not collect property taxes normally generated by a project for a number of years, the benefit to the city is that some projects would proceed that, under different circumstances, would not be realized, said Lesa Coder, business development director.

The city has provided financial incentives or grants to numerous downtown projects, including Neonopolis. Goodman said there isn't enough money to go around, especially in lieu of recent meetings with a professional hockey team owner to discuss the construction of a downtown arena.

"We only have so much of that (tax increment), and we have to be careful," Goodman said. "There just isn't that much tax increment for us to willy-nilly spread it around."

The city's redevelopment agency is experiencing a revenue shortfall this fiscal year -- which begins July 1 -- because of declining tax revenues. Only $186,000 will be available for new projects, down from $542,000 available last year.

A major source of funding for the redevelopment agency is tax increment, which comes from the assessed value of properties.

Goodman said he was told by the furniture mart developers that the project has significant financial backing, apparently from European financiers.