By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

After reviewing numbers from outdoor sports retailer Cabela’s and Bedford-based engineers TF Moran, the Hooksett Town Council voted to put a request for an $18 million tax increment financing, or TIF, plan on this year’s list of warrant articles.

Under the plan, which town officials are still drafting to meet the upcoming deadline for bond hearings, an $18 million note would cover massive infrastructure improvements for the town’s recently formed TIF district, which spans about 150 acres around I-93s Exit 11.

Developers also envision a museum, go-kart track, water park, RV park and aquarium.

Town councilors have stressed that Hooksett taxpayers wouldn’t be put at risk by committing to such a bond, as Cabela’s, a Nebraska-based, publicly traded company, plans to guarantee both normal tax and bond payments.

If a TIF district is successful, tax revenue generated from higher assessed values – the likely result of new developments within the district – covers a fixed assessed value of the land, bond payments and creates revenue to go back to a town’s general fund, potentially offsetting taxes.

Hooksett’s Exit 10 TIF district, which includes Target, Home Depot and Kohl’s, has netted the town an additional $1.7 million in tax revenue over the past five years. That district was spurred by a $2.7 million bond.

The $18 million bond likely to be proposed for the Exit 11 TIF district would cover about $4.5 million for direct improvements to town infrastructure, said Town Administrator David Jodoin. That money would cover many of the improvements, designed to double Hooksett’s sewer capacity, already underway in the sewer department, said Jodoin.

Based on TF Moran’s preliminary estimates, the remaining $13.5 million consists of $1 million for excavating the Exit 11 park and ride, $1,125,000 for road access costs, $1.2 million for sewer extension along Hackett Hill Road, $1,875,000 for Hackett Hill Road improvements, $1,450,000 for a signalized intersection at Hackett Hill and River Roads, and $2,850,000 for a new public road going from Hackett Hill Road to the TIF developments.

Also included in the plan is $4 million for “museum elements,” though a letter from the town’s legal counsel questioned the legality of using TIF money for a Cabela’s museum.

Jeff Larrabee of Miami and Pierce, one of the project’s developers, described the $4 million as the most important part of the $18 million project. At the recent council meeting, Larrabee repeatedly referred to a “man in the mountain” museum – one that he said that would “be the biggest tourism event in New Hampshire.”

Town Councilor Mike Jolin, who suggested striking the $4 million from the plan, said, “It’s not the responsibility of Hooksett to promote New Hampshire tourism.”

Many of the already established 14 Cabela’s retail centers nationwide feature museums with local or regional themes. Preliminary designs for the Hooksett museum include a simulated mountain, an aquarium featuring both exotic and regional aquatic life, an educational kiosk and African taxidermy.

Jodoin said preliminary designs for the district, as created by Cabela’s and TF Moran include a go-kart track, six restaurants, two hotels, one or two gas station/convenience stores, three spots for specialty retail, a water park resort and RV park and a 350,000-square-foot distribution center.

The split vote to include the $18 million request on this year’s list of warrants came at the council’s Wednesday, March 8, meeting, and a public hearing on the TIF proposal is scheduled for Tuesday, March 21, the final day Hooksett officials can hold a bond hearing before the town’s April 1 deliberative session of Town Meeting.