No formal vote was taken, but last week, the North Oakland Transportation Authority (NOTA) opted to be part of the CIA.

No, not the Central Intelligence Agency, so don’t look for Felix Leiter to be driving a van full of seniors along M-24.

CIA stands for the Corridor Improvement Authority.

It’s an economic development tool that’s going to be utilized by Orion Township to make an estimated $8 million worth of road and streetscape improvements to a 470-acre area along Brown and Baldwin roads in the southwest corner of the township.

These improvements – such as widening Brown Rd. between Joslyn and Baldwin roads from three to five lanes – are designed to improve the area both functionally and aesthetically in the hopes of attracting new investment.

“A significant portion of the district is either vacant or (consists of) under-utilized industrial uses,” said Gary Roberts, of the Lansing-based Strategic Communications Solutions (SCS).

SCS provides consulting services to Orion.

Roberts, along with SCS Vice President Mike Hilfinger, made a presentation to the NOTA board at its June 16 meeting in Oxford.

Based on projections provided during the presentation, the annual tax revenue generated by the CIA area for NOTA could increase from $7,701 in 2016 to $49,730 after 2035.

During the years in between, NOTA would split the increased tax revenue with the CIA, which is projected to be approximately $240,000 for each entity over two decades.

“We stand to gain, not lose . . . assuming that it is as projected,” said Leonard Village President Mike McDonald, who serves on the NOTA board.

The NOTA board could have opted out of the CIA by passing a motion to that effect, but chose not to do so by taking no action at last week’s meeting.

“I think that NOTA should be a good partner (to) our member communities,” McDonald said.

NOTA provides low-cost, publicly-subsidized transportation for senior citizens, disabled individuals and low-income folks living in Oxford, Addison and Orion townships along with the villages of Oxford, Leonard and Lake Orion.

“We feel like (the CIA is) going to be good not only for Orion Township, but for all of the entities,” explained Orion Township Supervisor Chris Barnett, who serves on the NOTA board. “The reason Oakland County’s excited about it is it’s going to increase their revenue by $4 million. They’ve seen these work. They do work.”

Orion’s CIA would be funded via the establishment of a tax increment financing plan (TIF). This would lead to NOTA giving up 50 percent of the tax revenue expected to be generated by new investment and increased property values over a 20-year period.

Under the TIF plan, a portion of the local and county millages levied in the affected area would be captured and used to help fund the CIA’s improvements.

Orion, Oxford and Addison townships currently levy a property tax to support NOTA. It was approved by voters at 0.25 mill, but the Headlee Amendment has since rolled it back to 0.2490 mill in Orion.

Roberts explained how a TIF plan works in simple terms.

Basically, if the owner of a property currently pays $1 per year in taxes, he can typically expect to pay about $1.02 next year due to inflation.

But if the property is located in the CIA and the planned improvements attract new investment that increases the value, that same parcel could end up generating $5 in taxes, Roberts said.

Of that $4 increase, 50 percent goes to the CIA to help pay for the planned improvements, while the other half “will go where it always went,” meaning for services such as NOTA, police, fire, library, etc., according to Roberts.

All of the original $1 in taxes would also go toward the services for which it’s levied.

Based on projections calculated by SCS, without the Corridor Improvement Authority and its tax increment financing plan, the area in question could be expected to generate an estimated $222,271 in tax revenue for NOTA over a 20-year period, assuming a 2.5 percent rate of inflation and there was no new development.

However, with the CIA and TIF plan in place, the area is projected to increase in value, meaning over that same 20-year period, NOTA is projected to collect approximately $240,000 in additional tax revenue – that’s on top of the $154,000 derived from the base year tax, i.e. that original dollar – while the CIA would capture approximately $240,000.

“Any investment that happens is better than zero and (NOTA) would be capturing 50 percent of that,” Barnett said.

“(If) we do better and the capture’s $280,000 . . . that’s $280,000 more revenue for NOTA . . . than we would have if nothing happens,” Barnett noted. “I think that the numbers that we have are pretty conservative based on what we’ve seen so far, so I think we can say that the revenue will be even greater than that.”

It’s still being debated as to how the CIA would pay for its estimated $8 million in improvements up front.

Funding options include issuing bonds, borrowing internally from an Orion Township fund or borrowing from Oakland County.

“We’re looking at different types of financing at this point,” Hilfinger said.

Whatever option is selected, money captured under the TIF plan would be used to pay off the debt, which right now, is projected to take up to 20 years.

However, Hilfinger noted it could take less time.

“If we (capture) enough taxes to finish the projects before year 20, this (CIA and TIF plan) will expire,” he explained. “So, if for some reason in year 15, we pay off (the debt) . . . then it would end earlier.”

Barnett pointed out although a CIA is “similar” to a Downtown Development Authority (DDA), that’s not what it is.

“The difference is we have stated projects,” he explained. “Once those are complete, it ends. This isn’t something that we renew. Obviously, we could create a new one, but we would have to start over and would have to come back to the taxing authorities with a new plan.”

Unlike a DDA, Barnett said the CIA has “no full-time staff,” just some consultants.

“We want to just take the money and put it in (the projects),” he said.

Part of the NOTA millage is already captured by Oxford and Lake Orion’s DDAs.