The Plymouth Redevelopment Commission decided to lower a “pass-through” of tax dollars collected from TIF #1 — the U.S. 30, Oak Road district — that is decided on annually.
Each year in June, Redevelopment Commissions around the state are given the option to decide if they will collect the full amount of Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) dollars available in that district or allow a certain amount to “pass through” to the overlapping taxing units in the district such as the county government, city government, schools, libraries, etc.
A representative from Baker Tilly was at the meeting to present options to the Commission that were requested about the effect of lowering that pass-through from TIF #1. For the past 10 years, the Commission has allowed $20 million collected to pass through from that TIF to the overlapping taxing units, but the Commission decided to look forward to upcoming projects that could be undertaken in the TIF district if that amount was lowered.
Two options were presented showing the effects of lowering the pass-through to $19 million and $18 million. The effect of each was shown to have little effect on the other taxing units as state statute only allows them to increase the tax rate to “circuit breaker” levels to recover any loss by the lowering of money sent through.
The City of Plymouth has undertaken a study by the Troyer Group to look at street projects that could be undertaken in the area and their cost. Troyer was given a “gold” option of what could be undertaken immediately if funds were not a concern and a second option of cost-effective projects that could be implemented quickly with funds that would be on hand without the current pass-through level.
The main projects were sidewalk and street projects in the corridor from Oak Road to St. Joe Hospital including sidewalks for that distance. Some of the projects were as simple as striping and street markings in certain areas, others contained sidewalks and other projects that could be undertaken quickly without waiting for applications for grants and funding alternatives.
The money collected could also be used to leverage larger projects when they presented themselves.
Member Nancy Felde spoke about the actual immediate impact of lowering the pass-through saying that she felt there was time in the coming years to make a decision if any of these projects actually came on the books in the district and put a question to the board asking if the small amount of gain by not passing through the tax dollars was worth it.
The Commission voted 5-1, Felde the no vote, to lower the pass-through amount from TIF #1 to $18 million.
