The City of Colorado Springs is accepting applications to fill a position on the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority Board – the group that has a big say in the City for Champions project.

The volunteer position is a five-year term that begins April 1, 2015.

David Neville is stepping down as URA board member and chair, said a city spokeswoman. Neville will take on the role as legal counsel representing the URA board, she said.

Colorado Springs City Council president Keith King said the City Council will discuss how it wants to proceed with the confirmation process of the new URA board member.

“I would guess we will have a discussion about the process at a work session and try to come up with some sort of agreement to see how we want to participate,” King said. “I would guess there would still be pretty high interest for the position from the council.”

At a March 25 City Council meeting, Mayor Steve Bach told the City Council that the URA board appointees did not require a confirmation hearing like when he appoints executive staff members. Rather, it was more a ceremonial approval, he said then.

But three council members — King, Joel Miller and Don Knight — said it was their responsibility to interview potential URA board members, especially when such big taxpayer projects are in play like the City for Champions project.

Miller sparred with one of the candidates in a public meeting. It was the first time the City Council interviewed potential URA board members in public. His concern revolved around the board’s role in the City for Champions project — four tourism projects that have recieved some money from the state for constuction of the buildings.

The Urban Renewal Authority will act as the financing entity for the City for Champions projects – a role spelled out in the city-state agreement. As envisioned, the authority would become the recipient of state sales tax funds used to help fund the projects and could issue bonds to help pay for their development, among other responsibilities.

In December, the state Economic Development Commission awarded the Springs 
$120.5 million in state sales tax revenue over 30 years to help finance the projects. The city and state economic development officials continue to hammer out terms of that deal.

Organizers of three of the projects — a University of Colorado at Colorado Springs medical facility, a downtown U.S. Olumpic Museum and an Air Force Academy visitors center — will seek private money to pay for the remainder of the constuction costs of those buildings. Organizers have said that no local taxpayer money will be used.

However, a proposed downtown sports and events center likely will need taxpayer money and it could be  collected from a local tax incriment financing district. A TIF uses a portion of the additional sales tax or all of the new property tax generated by a development. That money is used to pay off bonds or reimburse the developer of the projects.

Typically, those projects do not require voter approval.

However, Colorado Springs City Council is expected to vote this month on a proposed April ballot question that would ask residents to change the city’s charter so that no taxpayer money would ever be used on any sports and events center without prior voter approval.

The deadline to apply for the URA board position is Jan. 19. The URA board meets the fourth Wednesday of each month.  Preferred applicants should have a background in strategic planning, financial analysis, and knowledge of real estate; familiarity with the City’s Development Review Process is desirable, a city press release said.

Send letter of interest and resume no later than Jan. 19 to jharwig@springsgov.com or mail to Mayor Steve Bach, 30 S. Nevada Ave., Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903.

For more information regarding the Board’s responsibilities and a description of its current projects, please refer to the Authority’s website www.csurbanrenewal.org.