Staff from Denver Urban Renewal Authority (DURA) and Denver Department of Finance provided an update on “Stapleton cash flow projections.” These projections determine what projects will be funded (such as additional lanes on the Central Park Blvd. bridge) and they drive the timing for construction. After fully repaying all developer advances, 2013 was the first year that Stapleton tax increment financing (TIF) generated revenues in excess of existing debt obligations. By the year 2025, those excess revenues are projected to total $96.3 million. However, $63.5 million of that won’t be available until 2022-2025 (the last four years of the TIF) with the release of the bond reserves. Between now and the end of 2021, the excess revenues will average just more than $4 million per year.

City staff said that with only nine years remaining on the TIF and the amount of outstanding obligations, traditional bond financing is probably no longer an option. The two scenarios discussed were: 1. Forest City advances funds to be repaid with TIF, and, 2. DURA cash-funds projects with the net cash flows available at the end of each year. CAB co-chair David Netz stated remaining capital projects include the CPB bridge widening, Havana Street bridge over Sand Creek, Smith Road and development in Section 10.  CAB requested a follow-up report to clearly identify what is and what is not funded at this point. Bar Chadwick, Denver’s Special Projects Manager in the Department of Finance, said PCMD consultants have begun the permitting process for the Central Park bridge final build-out, a process that will take a year or more in working with stakeholders such as the Colorado Department of Transportation, RTD and the Union Pacific Railroad.