A Town Hall presentation was held by Rebecca Bextel and Eyes on Wyoming this past Thursday at the Hanger in Bar Nunn. Roughly 100 residents were in attendance, including State Auditor Kristi Racines and Secretary of State Chuck Gray. There were also multiple attorneys in the audience who were taking notes and recording the meeting on their devices.
The evening began with a welcome and announcements by the Natrona County Republican Party’s State Committeewoman, Marcia Neumiller, who is also President of the Natrona County Republican Women’s group.
Afterwards, Rebecca Bextel’s presentation lasted approximately 40 minutes, and included the history of her involvement in disclosing “low-income” housing projects. Ms. Bextel highlighted the Flat Creek Apartments, a supposed 48 unit “low-income” project developed by Tyler Davis and BlueLine Development, which was built with public funds on a free 99-year lease at the Teton County Fairgrounds. The developers paid themselves $1 million in tax dollars to develop their own building, and they pay no property tax.
Ms. Bextel went on to highlight four properties in Natrona County: the CentrePoint, Liberty Square and Raven Crest Apartments were first. These three complexes were facilitated by the Casper Housing Authority and BlueLine Development, and are owned 99.98% by East Coast equity firms which pay no property tax. The last property she focused on was the Juniper Ridge Apartments, which is now owned by the Wyoming Housing Network. This complex was built by Granite Peak Development in 2013, which is owned by Kelly Gill, who is also a partner at BlueLine Development. BlueLine developed the Juniper Ridge Apartments. The exterior of the building has been failing since 2018.
According to a Wyoming News article featuring the Juniper Ridge Apartments in 2013,
“About 70 percent of the funding for the $6.3 million project comes from the sale of tax credits awarded by the Wyoming Community Development Authority. The balance comes from a standard construction loan. BlueLine Development Co. of Missoula, Mont. is the project manager. Nate Richmond of BlueLine said his firm will be repaid from rents that are deposited into a development fund. When completed, the apartments will be managed by Northwest Real Estate Capital Corporation on behalf of the Wyoming Housing Network.”
Eight months ago, the equity investor, PNC Real Estate, transferred the Juniper Ridge Apartments to the WHN because the liabilities on the building were greater than the value. Syringa Property Management, based in Idaho, was released of their management contract in September, as well. The WHN applied to the Wyoming Community Development in hopes that the public will donate $1 million dollars in grant funding to fix the exterior of the complex. This request will be decided by the WCDA this month.
Ms Bextel also revealed that a $94 billion Japanese equity firm essentially owns many of the Casper Housing Authority’s and Wyoming Housing Network’s complexes through a $16 billion fund owned through Boston Financial, based in New York.
Ms. Bextel detailed the ravenous group of middlemen, like BlueLine Development, who arguably gain more value from these projects than the intended recipients, according to the CATO Institute’s recent investigation and testimony to Congress. Unelected bureaucrats like the WCDA have sole discretion in passing out millions of dollars in taxpayer funds each year for these projects. Many believe this process is ripe for fraud.
It was also revealed that BlueLine Development’s principal, Christian Pritchett, was formerly employed by the Wyoming Community Development Authority as their “Federal Grants Coordinator”. Mr. Pritchett signed off on the project for the Juniper Ridge Apartments in 2013, which was developed by his future employer and company, BlueLine Development. Currently, Mr. Pritchett is a federal programs recipient, thanks to the WCDA.
Ms. Bextel showed the WCDA’s land covenants which typically only require 40% of a building to be “low-income”, and how a tenant cannot be kicked out of a building if their income increases. She also highlighted misleading property tax applications submitted to the assessor’s office by the CHA’s Executive Director, Kim Summerall-Wright.
At the end of the presentation, Senator Cheri Steinmetz pushed back on these property tax exemptions given to the complexes, and why it is violation of W.S. 15-10-107, which states,
“…This tax exemption does not apply to any portion of a project used for a profitmaking enterprise, but in taxing those portions appropriate allowance shall be made for any expenditure by a municipality or county for utilities or other public services which it provides to the property…. “
The event ended with questions from the audience. Senators Bob Ide and Troy McKeowan were in attendance, as well as Representatives Tony Locke and Jayme Lien. Many of the video clips from the presentation that featured BlueLine Development originated in the Revenue Committee hearing chaired by Representative Locke this past November.
For more information, watch the Town Hall linked below. At the end of the presentation, a third-generation Casper resident shares a nightmare story involving the Casper Housing Authority and Liberty Square Apartments.
Additional Resources: Conflict of interest videos involving the WCDA and BlueLine Development
Editors Note: Rebecca Bextel is part-owner of The Open Range Record.