By 2017, property-tax revenue totaling roughly $700,000 from 20 new downtown developments is anticipated, a sum that at least one council member scoffed at this week as being lower than expected.
Once the 20 projects start generating property tax revenues, Glendale could make an average $35,000 per development, which Councilman Ara Najarian on Tuesday called paltry.
“I am surprised when I look at the list of those projects,” Najarian said. “Those are just drops in the bucket.”
Glendale officials expect budget gaps into the millions over the next five years, and this year is no different. At the same time, the City Council has approved several new developments downtown that would bring roughly 2,000 new residential units to an area better known for lunching suit-and-tie types than cocktail-sipping young professionals.
The projects have angered some in the community who feel they will add traffic to an already congested downtown. Officials, though, have heralded the changes as a positive move for Glendale.