City upholds spending freeze

The Carson City Board of Supervisors rejected a request Thursday to lift its freeze on redevelopment spending and help remodel an office building.

The majority of supervisors said a $53,520 incentive for DSE #4 LLC would not be fair to other businesses and would not be in the best interest of redevelopment.

Supervisors put a freeze on redevelopment spending Feb. 19 until the city can create redevelopment policies and procedures.

The unfinished incentive application the business turned in March 23 didn't show why the business needed the city's help, said Supervisor Pete Livermore.

He said he would not approve the funds for the 503 N. Carson St. building at the expense of ruining the board's credibility.

"We currently have a moratorium, and I haven't seen any reason here to lift the moratorium," he said.

Mayor Bob Crowell said he has told other businesses they'd have to wait to apply for redevelopment funds until the board adopted redevelopment policies.

"How can we let one go forward and not others?" he asked.

The board will look at the project again in May when they hope to have redevelopment spending policies in place.

But Business Development Officer Director Joe McCarthy said the business has been working with the city since January.

The business has been "caught in limbo" trying to get its $267,500 project started, he said.

"This is a viable application at the right time," he said.

McCarthy said the new policies probably won't significantly change how the

redevelopment funds are spent anyway.

Darsi Casey, business owner, said she has wanted to start work on the building since she bought it in November.

She said her accounting business, Casey, Neilon & Associates, needs to expand into the new building soon to keep up with business. She said she'll have to start turning away clients soon without more space.

The politics and delays over the redevelopment funding are frustrating, she said.

"It would be a shame for this board to slow down growth in an economic time so challenging for everyone," she said.