SB 615

Under the current tax incremental financing program, a city or village may

create a tax incremental district (TID) in part of its territory to foster development

if at least 50 percent of the area to be included in the TID is blighted, in need of

rehabilitation or conservation, suitable for industrial sites, or suitable for mixed-use

development. Currently, towns and counties also have a limited ability to create a

TID under certain circumstances. Before a city or village may create a TID, several

steps and plans are required. These steps and plans include public hearings on the

proposed TID within specified time frames, preparation and adoption by the local

planning commission of a proposed project plan for the TID, approval of the proposed

project plan by the common council or village board, approval of the city's or village's

proposed TID by a joint review board that consists of members who represent the

overlying taxation districts, and adoption of a resolution by the common council or

village board that creates the TID as of a date provided in the resolution.

Also under current law, once a TID has been created, the Department of

Revenue calculates the "tax incremental base" value of the TID, which is the

equalized value of all taxable property within the TID at the time of its creation. If

the development in the TID increases the value of the property in the TID above the

base value, a "value increment" is created. That portion of taxes collected on the

value increment in excess of the base value is called a "tax increment." The tax

increment is placed in a special fund that may be used only to pay back the project

costs of the TID.

The project costs of a TID, which are initially incurred by the creating city or

village, include public works such as sewers, streets, and lighting systems; financing

costs; site preparation costs; and professional service costs. Project costs under

current law include expenditures for the construction of public works or

improvements; new buildings, structures, and fixtures; and the demolition,

alteration, remodeling, repair, or reconstruction of certain properties. For a TID

created after 1981, however, project costs do not include the cost of constructing or

expanding any facility if the city generally finances similar facilities only with utility

user fees.

Under this bill, parking structures that support redevelopment activities are

excluded from the exclusion of the cost of constructing or expanding a facility, if the

city generally finances similar facilities only with utility user fees, from the

definition of project costs.