TOLONO — The village board is considering using some of the proceeds from its tax increment financing district to provide loans or grants to encourage building improvements.

The discussion came about after Monical's Pizza owner Tom Swigart questioned why, as a business owner who has paid over $2 million in salaries over the last 15 years, he has not been able to benefit from the TIF district.

"There needs to be a fund that can be drawn from at a low-interest rate," Swigart said.

Village Attorney Marc Miller said that while village board members have been talking about using tax-increment revenue for a major drainage improvement project, they could establish other, smaller programs. As an example, Miller cited Fisher's Totally Improved Fisher program, in which businesses could apply to have 25 percent of the costs of building improvements reimbursed, up to $10,000.

Village Engineer Larry Johnson said many area towns have similar programs.

In other business, the village approved Dead Horse Lounge owner Steve Hillard's request for a special-event permit and to fence off a portion of Main Street for a beer tent on Aug. 13. Tolono Police Chief Richard Raney requested that Hillard use a wider area of the street than he did when he hosted a similar beer tent during the Tolono Fun Day festival on June 25.