By Al Stanek
Whitewater Banner volunteer staff
whitewaterbanner@gmail.com
The use of Tax Incremental Financing (TIF), a common economic development tool, appears to be moving forward as the Whitewater Common Council formally designated the boundaries and project plans for five new Tax Incremental Districts (TIDs) at its August 3 meeting.
TIF financing allows a municipality to create economic development districts (TIDs) in which the amount of tax revenue generated within a designated part of the city is temporarily frozen for the units of government that are listed on tax bills sent out by the city. Those units of government include the city, the county or counties, the school district and area technical colleges that collect taxes for property in a given TID.
Any new tax revenue generated within a TID during its life can be used to pay for infrastructure improvements, developer incentives and the costs of administration.
Earlier this year the City closed all of its previous TIDs and distributed any excess TID funds proportionately to all participating units of government. The additional revenue generated by new construction within those previous TIDs will now be available for general purposes by the city, the Whitewater Unified School District (WWUSD), Jefferson or Walworth County depending on where development occurs, and one of the two Technical College Districts that serve Jefferson or Walworth County.
Final approval of the proposed new TIDs rests with a Joint Review Board consisting of representatives from all involved units of government. The board is scheduled to meet on August 11 to consider this action.
“Establishing boundaries and project plans for these new districts is one of the last steps in a process that really began nearly two and half years ago,” said Whitewater City Manager Cameron Clapper. “We are already seeing activity in several of the proposed new TIDs,” he added.
Examples cited were a Kwik Trip store near the roundabout on the city’s east side as well as another proposed retail establishment in that area and another Kwik Trip at the intersection of STH 89 and STH 59. There are also indications of a potential new development in the downtown Whitewater area as well as a proposed new development on the city’s northwest side.
Information on the boundaries and specifics of the project plans are available at https://www.whitewater-wi.gov/532/2021-Tax-Increment-District-Development.
