Page 10 THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – FRiDAy, JunE 13, 2025 VOTES | FROM PAGE 2 tablished within 90 days of the Mayor signing the TIF on behalf of the City. “It’s illegal to transfer tax money, so they’re making a donation,” Council President Stephanie Martins acknowledged. Her motion to eliminate the names of agencies and organizations that might get money to teach English literacy and job preparedness, suggested by Lattanzi, was approved to allow fl exibility in distributing the funds. Another amendment was made to require provisions of the TIF and Good Neighbor Fund be applied to any new owners should Fulcrum sell the property and building. The $1,224,000 is being deducted from the previously planned $2 million annual payment from Fulcrum to an Aff ordable Housing Trust Fund. “It’s a reallocation,” Lattanzi explained. “There was no way to allocate more funds. The only way was to transfer funds.” $2 million minus $1,224,000 is $776,000, but Fulcrum will pay only $620,000 to the Affordable Housing Trust and keep the leftover $156,000. Everett being Everett, debate was contentious and disorganized at times. There were motions to table the matter — until the details were worked out and incorporated into a document — until later in the meeting, the next regular Council meeting or a special meeting, but the changes were made and approved on the spot. City Clerk Sergio Cornelio admitted he lost track of who was proposing what during the deliberations. “Time is of the essence,” Brown advised. Councillors at-Large Guerline Alcy Jabouin, Michael Marchese and Stephanie Smith, as usual, voted against the approval. Smith, still unclear on the concept, said she didn’t want to vote on an incomplete agreement and give a developer a tax break in light of needs in the School Department and problems with traffi c and trash in the city. “I have a sinking feeling this is not the right way to do this,” Van Campen added, although he later voted in favor after the amendments were ironed out. “Are we going to have another three-hour discussion and have it not pass?” Rogers asked rhetorically. VOTES | SEE PAGE 22 Statement below offered by Mayor DeMaria on The Sofi a TIF Agreement approved by the City Council “I have been working with the proponents of The Sofia since 2022 as part of my commitment to bring diverse projects to Everett to help generate new revenue and replace run down properties with cleaner projects that represent better and higher uses of parcels in our community. I fi led with the City Council a proposed Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreement for the project that I believed was reasonable based on an independent third-party verifying on behalf of the city that this type of agreement was appropriate given the overall fi nancials of the project. The TIF I submitted to the Council would have the owners of the property pay on average over the course of the 14 years of the agreement, over $600,000 per year in taxes, which is an 800% increase over the $67,000 a year that the previous blighted industrial use of the property generated. After the TIF expires, the owner will pay over $3M a year in taxes. This is a signifi cant increase in tax revenue to the city in both the short and the long term. I also negotiated that all the work on the project would be completely done by union labor, which will create 1,342 jobs with a commitment secured from the unions that Everett union members will receive preference for those spots. The property owner also will pay for and complete a full-scale reconstruction of Garden Street Extension at a cost to them of approximately $3,000,000. The agreement I presented to the City Council would increase revenue, use private funds to clean up the former industrial site and make infrastructure improvements to the area, and create jobs for Everett residents. With those benefi ts already presented to them, it’s not clear why the Council President felt the need to save the developer an additional $156,000 in project costs by diverting what otherwise would be tax revenue for the city into a fund that she specifi cally is trying to control. That language would require funds to be diverted into a special fund rather than be available for the most pressing needs of the city. The language is concerning because it creates the opportunity for the Council President to spend revenue without the checks and balances that are required under municipal fi nance laws. Additionally, it’s not clear why the Council would think that reducing linkage fees that are specifi - cally dedicated to addressing our aff ordable housing crisis should be diverted to projects that could be paid for by outside grants and established revolving funds.”
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