LURA board will vote in June on whether to audit Centerra developments

LOVELAND — The Loveland Urban Renewal Authority board will decide in June whether to authorize an audit of the Centerra master finance agreements and performance by the developer under those agreements.

Jacki Marsh, the mayor of Loveland who serves on the LURA board as a commissioner, sought during the LURA meeting Tuesday afternoon a “point of personal privilege” during which she reviewed several of the financial implications of the Centerra agreements. She then moved to authorize an independent audit “of monies spent” and to audit not only the metropolitan districts and finance agreements but also McWhinney Real Estate Service Inc. and all its related companies.

Corey Hoffmann, the attorney for LURA, advised the board not to proceed at Tuesday’s meeting with the motion. “This wasn’t on the agenda, and I would be concerned about moving on this now if this isn’t emergent,” he said, in reference to being conservative about observing the open-meetings law and public-notice requirements.

LURA chairwoman Jody Shadduck-McNally, who had not accepted Marsh’s motion in light of the discussion, did accept a motion from commissioner Laura Light-Kovacs to place the audit item on the June agenda.

Commissioner Troy Krenning agreed with Light-Kovacs motion, saying “do it right, not fast. It would be foolish not to heed what we’ve been told” by our attorney. He referenced issues that the city has had with open-meeting violations and “why would we want to step into that mud puddle.”

The board voted 12-0 to defer the topic to June.

Prior to that meeting, commissioners asked for:

• What would an audit cost.
• How long would it take.
• What remedies apply if something is found.
• Who might make recommendations as to an audit firm.
• Do these audits happen often.
• What are the obligations of the property owners when the master finance agreement runs its course, and also the obligations of bond holders.
• What is the staff impact of conducting an audit.
• How much of this information is already available.
• How will an audit be financed.
• What would be the audit plan.

Hoffmann, who serves as an attorney for several URAs across the state, said none of them have ever conducted an audit of the type contemplated by some of the commissioners during discussion.

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