Last month members of the Plymouth Redevelopment Commission voted to “pass-through” $18 million of assessed value in TIF District #1, the U.S. 30, Oak Road district.
Every year in June, the Plymouth Redevelopment Commission reviews the revenues generated in the city’s TIF Districts and the list of projects to determine if additional funding can be “passed through” to overlapping taxing units. Those would include the school corporation, the Plymouth Public Library, Solid Waste, the county government, and the city government.
Heidie Amspaugh from Baker Tilly presented information to Redevelopment Commission members on passing through incremental assessed value being captured from the TIF areas.
For many years the Redevelopment Commission passed through $20 million of AV but for the last 10 years, they have given the overlapping taxing units $20 million collected from TIF #1. Looking ahead to upcoming projects that could be helped with funds from the TIF district, the amount was lowered.
Amspaugh offered two options for consideration, the first passing through $19 million and the second option to pass through $18 million.
One of the future projects is the addition of sidewalks on Oak Drive from U.S. 30 all the way south to St. Joseph Hospital. The city hired the Troyer Group to complete a study of the area. They have been asked to create a “gold standard” project and a cost-effective plan. The plan will include changes to the streets and the addition of space for pedestrians and bicyclists.
Having a plan in place will allow the city to apply for grants when available and the funds might also be used as matching funds to leverage larger projects if the opportunity presents itself.
Redevelopment Commission member Nancy Felde was the only member to vote against the reduced pass-through funds. She felt there was plenty of time in the coming years to decide if any of the projects would become a reality.
