CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Tax collections earmarked for improvements at the Charleston Civic Center have started to build.
City officials received the first remittance of the tax from state tax collectors in January. The first collection is just more than $1 million for two months, which according to Charleston City Manager David Molgaard is on target with projections.
“Our finance director estimated we would bring in just over 6.1 million dollars annually, which averages 514,000 per month,” Molgaard said. “Based on the first two months we brought in just over 515,000 so he nailed it almost to the penny.”
The city has two separate revenue streams to generate the funding. A one half percent increase in the sales tax is earmarked for the Civic Center project. Also set to fund the project is a Tax Increment Financing District in which sales tax from new development will be funneled into the project.
With money in hand the plans are being made for the project. Molgaard said he’s in negotiation with several companies to come up with a master plan and the renovation will be a design/build project to save on costs.
“We’re going to do some master planning, develop some performance criteria, and put together a design contest ultimately before we proceed.”
Molgaard said already there are plans being made for price structure and timelines. He anticipated a builder could be under contract within a year.