Here's my read on how TIF works. Let's say you have a a couple of parcels with older buildings, parking lots etc. They pay total property taxes of $1,000 with $250 going to City, $250 going to Schools, and $500 going to the County.
Now there is a proposal to put a 25-story building on the site that will generate $10,000 in property taxes. City can use TIF to help develop the site meaning the City pledges the increment that the new development would create, or in this hypothetical -- $9,000. The City, Schools, and County would continue to get their split of the $1,000 these parcels originally generated. The $9,000 increment generated over the life of the TIF project(the time frame can vary)helps pay for land assembly, utility work, or some other public purpose (defined by the City). Some argue, including on this issues list, that there is no cost to the City, Schools, County because without the TIF assistance the project would have never happened and these parcels would have continued to generate the $1,000 in property taxes. What that arguement overlooks is that maybe a different project would have been built there that didn't need TIF assistance, thus creating a property valuation increase that does go straight to the City, Schools, and County coffers. To use my same example, maybe instead of a TIF-financed 25-story building, a 10-story building is built without TIF financing. This new project generates $6,000 in property taxes with $1,500 going to the City, $1,500 going to the Schools, and $3,000 going to the County. This difference in these two projects is really a lost opportunity, not an actual cost you can point to on a ledger sheet or budget. Clearly TIF is an important economic development tool, (really the only effective one a City has) when used judiciously. However, when its used to supersize projects one can get into the trouble such as the City found itself in with the Target project. Hope this helps. Dean E. Carlson East Harriet, Ward 10 > On Fri, 28 December 2001, Conor Donnelly wrote: > > "Wise list members, > > I'm wondering if perhaps anyone can give a rookie like me some insight on >researching TIF, or point me in the right direction. I've struggled to get my brain >around this for quite a while, so I'd love to get a hold of some kind of TIF fact >sheet, if one exists. Something summarizing the history of TIF, figures on how >extensively its been used, step by step how the process works, and what does the >future hold for TIF? > > I've only been following this discussion list for about a year now, and never before >had any interest in this sort of thing. People seem to have very polarized opinions >on TIF, especially concerning the "but for" > part". > > > --------------------------------------------------- > Get your free web based email from Crosswalk.com: > http://mail.crosswalk.com > _______________________________________ > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: > http://e-democracy.org/mpls _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
