Tuesday evening Plymouth City Attorney, Sean Surrisi gave members of the City Redevelopment Commission and representatives from overlapping taxing an overview of the TIF Districts and the projects they have completed and are working on.
A new requirement from the state mandates that Redevelopment Commissions across the state provide an annual review of TIF Districts for the overlapping taxing units such as schools, libraries and other governmental units.
Each of the six TIF Districts were detailed. TIF #1 know as the U.S. 30/Oak Road Economic Development Area was created in 1993 and will expire the end of 2040. Recent projects include expansion of the Pine Water Treatment Plant and Well Field, Ledyard Water Treatment Plant improvements, Metronet and City Hall Improvements. Ongoing projects are the Rees Theatre renovation, Hoham Drive improvements and Pioneer Drive improvements.
TIF # 2 is East Jefferson Street and the Central Business District. It was created in 2001 and will expire in 2031. Recent projects are River Park Square, the South Gateway Riverwalk and downtown sidewalk improvements.
TIF # 3 is at U.S. 30/Pine Road. It was established in 2004 and will expire in 2034. Past projects include utility improvements in the TechFarm and the manufacturing center which is now Pretzels Inc. Ongoing projects include the Aquatic Center and Community Foundation and Growing Kids Center.
TIF # 4 is the South Gateway/Western Downtown area that encompasses the Rivergate South residential development. It was created in 2016 and will expire in 2041.
TIF # 5 is on Western Avenue for the Winona Building Products project. Established in 2018 this TIF will expire in 2043 and is in place to assist in financing a bond for the industry expansion.
TIF # 6 is the news TIF District on Plymouth Goshen Trail and will help to finance infrastructure improvements in the Centennial Crossing residential development that will bring approximately 258 news living units to the city. This TIF was created in August 2018 and will expire in 2043.
Pretzels Inc. sits within TIF # 3 and the city is in the process of creating a specialized TIF, something like TIF # 3A that will assist in financing a $70 million expansion project.
In a video presentation TIF’s were explained as a tool that provides an incentive to stimulate development that would not otherwise occur. Districts are formed by Redevelopment Commissions hoping to generate private investment thus improving an areas employment, infrastructure, environment and more. The areas assessed value at the time a TIF District is created is the base AV. This insures that all taxes collected on the base AV continue to be passed to the overlapping taxing units inside the TIF District. The incremental AV which is anything above the base is multiplied by the districts tax rate to determine the TIF revenue for the area. Revenues can be spent on a wide array of critical projects including bricks and mortar, infrastructure projects both above and below ground as well as game changing façade improvements.
While the overlapping taxing units were invited to attend the meeting, at the conclusion, members had no comments or questions for the city attorney.
