LOWELL -- Finding ways to increase revenue without pulling it out of the residents' pockets was the overriding theme of last night's City Council candidates debate featuring incumbents Rodney Elliott and Patrick Murphy and challengers Paul Belley, Marty Lorrey, Armand Mercier and Van Pech.
The city needs a long-term plan focused on increasing the industrial tax base, Lorrey said, and should partner with UMass Lowell's incubator program and Emerging Technologies center to find space in the city to locate new companies springing from those programs.
"For years we had the Foot of John Street, Jackson Street and GE -- now they are apartments or vacant lots," he said. "We need more industrial space in the city."
Murphy said the way to boost the commercial tax base is to invest in neighborhood businesses, as has been done in the Lower Highlands under the City
In the short term, Murphy has proposed amending the city's regulations for home-based businesses to make it easier for architects and others to form startups in their homes that can develop into larger companies down the road.
Pech said it's the role of a city councilor to act as an ambassador for the city, spreading what Lowell has to offer beyond city limits.
"Lowell is a hidden gem, second-best to Boston," he said, adding that the city should strengthen its partnerships with UMass Lowell, the United Teen Equality Center, the Lowell Community Health Center and other agencies to engage young people and get them involved in the process of creating sustainable jobs.
The success of Lowell, going back to the 1970s, said Elliott, has always been that next big project. From the National Historic Park to the Tsongas Arena, LeLacheur Park and the Hamilton Canal District, "there was always something in the pipeline, and that is what this administration needs to be looking for."
"One of the most lucrative pieces of property is right next to the arena," Elliott said. "There is clearly a need for a hotel in this city. Why aren't we looking at what the plan is for that area?"
Eliott added that the city's fees and high commercial tax rate are impediments to business. He said he supports TIFs because they bring in businesses and jobs, and hopes the commercial tax rate can be reduced when the economy turns around.
Belley said that by attending sustainability forums held by Assistant City Manager Adam Baacke, he knows that the city's next long-term development project is the Tanner Street corridor, which is right off the Lowell Connector and can foster sustainable growth.
"There is also the Thorndike Factory Outlet building that I heard a developer recently walked though," Belley added. "We should also travel to college towns like Amherst and Durham (N.H.) to see what businesses are effective in their downtowns."
Mercier stood by a program he has been pushing for years -- obtaining PILOT -- or payment in lieu of taxes -- agreements from the city's large nonprofit agencies, such as UMass Lowell, Lowell General Hospital and Saints Medical Center.
"They must be able to make a PILOT for having taken property that had been on the tax rolls," he said. "There hasn't been enough aggressiveness on behalf of the administration in that program.
"UMass Lowell is doing a great job, but they are not paying taxes," Mercier added. "You bring the chancellor in and tell him, 'You need to help Lowell more than you are.' I honestly believe the people of Lowell who have deep pockets would react favorably if there was more aggressiveness."
All of the candidates agreed that there needs to be a stronger push to collect PILOTs from large nonprofit agencies.
Pech said that in order for it to be truly successful, it has to be a law. Without a mandatory requirement, getting even the large nonprofit groups to pay up is difficult, he said.
Murphy added that there are only 131 municipalities in the country that employ a PILOT program and that 80 of them are in Massachusetts.
"So we already have a fairly rigorous program compared to the rest of the country," he added.
Like Boston, Lowell should go after the large nonprofit agencies, Murphy said, but a PILOT does not necessarily have to be paid in cash.
UMass Lowell, for instance, could offer to city businesses the expertise and access to databases of its Management Department to assist companies in identifying opportunities for growth.
