Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District 2 is described in city budget narratives as running south of the downtown but north of Taylor Street.
Annual TIF 2 expenditures generally include:
-
$250-300,000 in economic incentives to Target
-
rehab, repairs and/or improvements to Barb City Manor and the Municipal Building
-
about $150,000 in transfers to the General Fund
This year, improvements at Founders Elementary (which lies south of Taylor) are planned as well.
ASSS*, from the middle column in the table below, stands for the expenses that reliably reflect area-wide improvements: alley, sidewalk, stormwater and street.
Once you wrap your mind around how few dollars, relatively speaking, go to helping the district at large, get a load of the ballooning fund balance.
| TIF 2 Budgets Fiscal Year | Property Tax Increment(s) | ASSS* Expenses | Total Expenses | Ending Fund Balance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 635,277 | 262,811 | 397,934 | -918,116 |
| 2007 | 772,579 | 222,730 | 313,199 | -458,734 |
| 2008 | 977,210 | 123,110 | 284,548 | 233,929 |
| 2009 | 1,499,602+ 362,072** | 313,391 | 875,520 | 1,220,083 |
| 2010 | 2,073,699 | 192,837 | 936,685 | 2,357,098 |
| 2011 | 2,090,460 | 13,490 | 315,542 | 4,132,015 |
| 2012 | 1,920,320 | 97,955 | 611,179 | 5,441,156 |
| 2013 | 1,828,815 | 315,000 | 1,302,394 | 5,967,577 |
Nice little pile o’ slush they’ve got there.
There is a TIF 2 plan in place (PDF p. 23), but the city is $2.8 million behind in following it. If they’ve changed their minds about some of the projects they should declare a surplus and return the extra tax increment portion to its rightful owners.
We should keep an eye on this, is what I’m saying.
It’s also kind of wacky that the city could be sitting on that kind of money and not enjoy any investment interest. Unlike the Central Area TIF, TIF 2 only has the property tax increment as revenue — except for FY2009, marked **, when they also transferred $362,000 from TIF 1 that they obviously didn’t need.
6 comments
Comment by Mac McIntyre on July 24, 2012 at 9:40 am
Your link is the document John Anderson has been looking for. $1.3 million NB&T
Comment by yinn on July 24, 2012 at 11:25 am
Yes! He has it in hand.
Comment by deke on July 25, 2012 at 3:17 am
Are these the funds that are turning the truly maintenance-free cement-filled parking islands in the various parking lots S. of Lincoln Hwy (currently the one S. of Rositas on Girard is being worked on) into the “maintenance-free” islands that contain plantings? My alderman (Brendon G.) told me that they were putting in “maintenance-free” plantings when they were doing the islands in the parking lot between 3rd, 4th, Grove & the tracks… So far, I have seen at least 3 occasions where the “maintenance-free” weeding crew comes by and spends a bunch o’time pulling weeds, trimming, etc. I like plants probably more than most, but cement islands are truly “maintenance free”, while plantings are not… I ~think~ he said the $$ for that was coming from the same fund that did the brick walks and trees on Lincoln Hwy. Not sure if that’s TIF, but I’m guessing it would be. Some of the shrubberies have succumbed to the drought, and will no doubt be replaced (Bring me some shrubberies!). Wonder what that “maintenance free” maintenance is costing? And what fund is it, and how long will that fund have $$ to pay for the “maintenance free” maintenance?
Comment by Anson MacDonald on July 25, 2012 at 3:50 am
Lynn, have there been estimates of the Muni Building rehab costs once police have moved out?
Comment by yinn on July 25, 2012 at 6:29 am
Hi deke, yes, the areas you are talking about were built with Central Area (TIF 1) funds. However, once built the expenditures to maintain them come out of the regular (General Fund) operations budget, and I believe there are now two part-time workers assigned to keep the downtown spruced up.
Anson, I don’t know.
You must be logged in to post a comment.