Aiken City Council on Nov. 10 continued (tabled) consideration of an ordinance that would authorize economic development inducements for the Rutland Place project (VP Riverside LLC / Van Rock Holdings) after a public and often technical exchange between staff and the developer about the underlying fee calculations.

Staff finance and planning presented a packet of estimated fees and proposed a rebate equal to 50% of those fees paid over a five‑year lookback period, with caps and annual limits embedded in the draft ordinance. Staff’s calculation combined building permit and inspection fees, plan‑check fees, impact fees, meter fees and business‑license estimates; staff said the total residential fee base was roughly $842,882 and commercial roughly $118,910 before the 50% cap and distribution assumptions.

Developer representative Mister Glover (Speaker 12) said he originally submitted his application in May and provided detailed spreadsheets showing his methodology. He told council he repeatedly asked staff to provide the city’s working calculations so the parties could reconcile differences but had not received a comparable methodology packet and said several tabled packet versions changed numbers without explanation. “I have not received that packet,” he said, asking council to accept his exhibit as Exhibit A unless the city could demonstrate how it derived its figures.

Staff (Sabina Craig, Speaker 25) said department staff produce calculations from the city’s IS‑400 (permitting/fee) system and reviewed the numbers individually with the applicant; she said staff had repeatedly refined numbers and that the packet included a paper trail of prior versions. Multiple council members expressed frustration that staff and the developer had not met in a consolidated meeting to reconcile the computations, and several urged tabling so staff and the developer could meet and present a single reconciled packet to council.

Council voted to continue the item to a later meeting to allow staff and the applicant to resolve outstanding calculation questions. No incentives were approved at the Nov. 10 meeting.

Next steps: staff and the applicant will be asked to meet with the city manager and finance staff to reconcile methodology and produce a single, documented set of calculations before council considers the ordinance again.