By Heather Graves
Correspondent
GREEN BAY – City alders unanimously approved updated plans to several of the city’s tax increment districts (TIDs) at a special meeting Friday, Sept. 4.
Alders met briefly to approve a handful of reallocations and extensions for TIDs, one barely making the deadline for allowed changes.
“We apologize for the short notice,” said Finance Director Diana Ellenbecker. “Through the Wisconsin Department of Revenue, we normally have normal deadlines for TIDs – amendments, and changes and new (ones). What happened was that one of the TIDs (TID 12 – Interstate 43) is going to close within five years, a mandatory term date, so you have to make changes, allocations and amendments prior to five years of the end of the term date, and it kind of snuck up on us. The last date that we can make any allocations, changes or amendments (with TID 12) is Sept. 6 of 2020. So, if we want to make this allocation we have to make it by the sixth or we aren’t allowed to do it.”
These plans have been in front of, and approved by, council before.
“This is very similar information that you saw last year,” Ellenbecker said. “It is a repeat of the same plan that (former) Director Kevin Vonck showed you a year ago. The plan hasn’t changed. We’ve been on this track for more than a year. In some cases, the Wisconsin Department of Revenue has just said that many of the things we tried to get approval for last year have to be done in the year it is going to happen. So that is why you are seeing some of the very similar information and very similar resolutions.”
Interim Director of Community and Economic Development Cheryl Renier-Wigg said the changes are all due to the failure of TID 9 – the 54/57 Business Park TID.
“It (54/57 TID) has not been a successful TID,” she said. “It was started with good intentions, but unfortunately it hasn’t panned out.”
Allocation amendments from TID 7 (Legends District), TID 8 (Henry and Morrow Streets) and TID 12 (Interstate 43) are needed to terminate TID 9.
Renier-Wigg said $2.7 million of allocations are needed to terminate TID 9.
“Obviously, we don’t like to see TIDs upside down, that is never our intent going into them,” said District 9 Alder Brian Johnson. “But in this particular instance, it’s not like the public completely went without any benefit. We still have public infrastructure out there that will be able to be utilized at some point in the future.”
The council also approved affordable housing extensions for TIDs 7 and 8.
Both TIDs are accumulating more property taxes than the amount of projects, therefore, state statutes require them to close.
However, the state does allow TIDs to be extended for one additional year to allocate additional funds to affordable housing projects.
Renier-Wigg said approximately $3.2 million would be used for affordable housing off TID extensions from TIDs 7, 8 and eventually 12, which is expected for extension next year.
Even with the extensions, both TIDs 7 and 8 will close before their mandatory terminations dates.
Ellenbecker said three TID terminations will be brought to council in the spring.
“We can’t allocate and term in the same meeting,” she said. “So we will be meeting one more time in spring to discuss this.”