Cayce OKs riverfront redevelopment tax extension

Cayce officials are preparing to embark on new projects into areas near the Congaree River after extending a redevelopment tax plan.

A proposal given final City Council approval Wednesday renewed the plan due to expire Oct. 24 for at least 20 years.

The plan allows the city to use future property tax growth from a 188-acre area along Knox Abbott Drive and other areas for improvements.

Plans call for borrowing up to $8.7 million initially to get the projects under way, City Manager Rebecca Vance said.

Major improvements that city leaders intend to use the extension to finance include landscaped medians on a mile-stretch of Knox Abbott Drive, an interpretative center at the 12,000-Year History Park being developed along Congaree Creek and possibly new quarters for police and firefighters.

City officials are looking at starting to install the Knox Abbott medians as soon as spring.

That improvement to beautify the eastern entrance into the Lexington County city of 14,000 residents has been a longtime goal.

This story was originally published February 23, 2017 at 10:16 AM with the headline "Cayce OKs riverfront redevelopment tax extension."