During their study session Thursday city commissioners sought more details about the financial packages of each of the four private developers presenting plans for a new library and collateral developments.

Here’s a look at some of the details of each plan:

¢ A plan put forth by the Fritzel family would redevelop parts of the 700 and 800 blocks of Vermont. A second option would include redevelopment of the 600 block of Vermont and Kentucky streets, too. But concerns have arisen after some residential property owners have said they don’t want to lose their homes.

The project would use about $110 million in private money. It would require $64.8 million in public money, according to the latest estimates. But because of the size of the private investment, developers estimate the entire $64.8 million would be paid for through a tax increment financing district. A TIF, as it is called, looks at how much tax revenue a particular area of town is generating today, and then looks at how much tax revenue it generates once the project is complete. The additional tax dollars generated by the project are captured and set aside to pay for public infrastructure related to the project, such as parking and streets, or publicly owned buildings such as the library.

Technically, under the current proposal, the city would lease the library from the Gene Fritzel Construction Co. Terms of that lease haven’t been proposed. At the end of the lease, the city could elect to renew or exercise an option to purchase the building at a pre-determined price.

¢ The Riverfront project – which is being led by members of the Simons family who own the Journal-World – would include $55.7 million in private investment. It would require about $73 million in public money. The developers estimate that about $14.6 million of the public investment can be paid for through a TIF district. Another $2 million could be paid for through meeting space rentals that would occur in what is now the Abe & Jake’s Landing building, which would be purchased under the current plan. Developers, though, have presented another option that would reduce the cost of the project by about $9.1 million by eliminating 400 of the 838 parking spaces in the project and scrapping plans to buy the Abe & Jake’s building. Under the Riverfront plan, the city would own the library outright.

¢ A plan to build the library on the 800 block of New Hampshire Street – led by developer Doug Compton – would include about $20.5 million in private investment. Developers estimate about $49.05 million in public money would be needed. About $7.5 million of the public money would be paid for through a TIF district and a transportation development district, which is a similar concept. The development group also is offering to buy the existing library site for $3 million. Under the current proposal, the library would be part of a lease-purchase arrangement. The city would lease the library from the development group for 25 years. At the end of the lease, the city would own the building.

¢ The proposal for the 900 block of New Hampshire Street would include about $17 million in private investment. The public investment, based on current plans, would be about $40.2 million. About $630,000 of the public costs could be paid for through a TIF district. Under this plan, the city would own the library portion of the building outright, but the floors above the library – which would include condo and office space – would be privately owned. The city would receive a $590,000 payment from the developers to compensate the city for “air rights.” The group also offered an option to reduce the size of the library from 127,000 square feet to 120,000 square feet, which would reduce the cost by $1.9 million.

Key pieces to all the plans are the assumptions the development groups have made in estimating how much TIF money each project will generate. City commissioners on Thursday asked staff members to do a detailed analysis of each financial package. That analysis likely won’t be done until late August, after the city is done with its 2007 budget process.