Expanding the authority of the town of Brookfield in Waukesha County to create tax incremental financing districts. (FE)

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. DOR authorizes the allocation of the tax increments until the TID terminates or, generally, 20 years, 23 years, or 27 years after the TID is created, depending on the type of TID and the year in which it was created. Also under current law, a city or village may not generally make expenditures for project costs later than five years before the unextended termination date of the TID. Under certain circumstances, the life of the TID, the expenditure period, and the allocation period may be extended.

Under the current law limitations on towns to use tax incremental financing (TIF), a town may create a TID for projects related to tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, or forestry. A town may also use TIF for residential projects, but only to the extent that the residential project has a necessary and incidental relationship to a tourism, agricultural, manufacturing, or forestry project, and for retail projects to the extent that the retail development is related to the retail sale of a product that is produced due to an agricultural, forestry, or manufacturing project.

A town may also create a TID in limited circumstances under which the town enters into a cooperative plan with a city or village under which part or all of the town will be annexed or attached by the city or village.

Under current law the town of Brookfield in Waukesha County, using the general authority towns may exercise to create a TID, may create one TID for a project that is related to either retail purposes, or to a purpose for which a city may create a TID.

Under this bill, the town of Brookfield in Waukesha County may create TIDs in the same way and subject to the same conditions as any city or village. If any part of such a TID is annexed by a city or village, any assets or liabilities associated with that annexed territory, including bonds or other debt, become the responsibility of the annexing city or village.