PAXTON — The city has cleared the final hurdle for adopting its first tax increment financing district.
At a public hearing this week, no written or verbal objections were received. All taxing bodies represented at the meeting gave their support.
The council is now expected to approve a series of ordinances to implement the TIF district during its Nov. 13 meeting, Mayor Bill Ingold said.
The TIF district would include the Interstate 57 and downtown areas. It would involve more than 600 acres, 362 parcels and 294 property owners, said Dan Schuering, the city's TIF attorney. Rantoul developer Joe Warner has acquired several parcels of land both east and west of I-57, where he is proposing a "multi-faceted" residential and commercial subdivision that would include hundreds of new homes, along with industrial facilities.
Schuering said the area qualifies as a TIF district because "the equalized assessed valuation of the area has not grown at a rate equal to or greater than the rest of the city, and the area has not grown consistent with the rate of inflation."
The TIF district would generate revenue as properties within it are developed or improved over the district's 23-year life cycle. All of the property tax revenue created following development that is beyond what is generated today would be placed into an account under the city's control, which can then be used to reimburse developers' costs. Taxing bodies could also be given a portion of the tax increment to address needs that result from development in the district.
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