New Board reviews TIF boundaries

GENEVA — A preliminary drawing of the boundaries of a proposed tax increment financing (TIF) district will go through a round of revisions to add more property.
Geneva Redevelopment Commission held its first meeting Tuesday to discuss the initial stages of creating a TIF district, including the election of officers and a definition of its boundaries.
Commission member Bill Warren presented the group with a rough draft of what the district could look like. A drawing made of connected blocks winding through town and including Red Gold’s current building as well as its $8.5 million proposed expansion, members wanted to see more of the north side of town included.
The recent construction of a Dollar General on U.S. 27 made those on the commission question whether the surrounding area should be included as it may be attractive to potential growth.
“The original intent of TIF was to give you a tool to help encourage development where you wanted it to be and the way you wanted it to be,” explained Stephen Carter of Carter Dillon Umbaugh LLC. “Downtowns are dying. If you don’t do things intentionally, downtown areas are going to continue to die.”
The first drawing included areas that could both grow revenue and be places that would benefit from the funds, such as town assets — parks, the water tower and motor vehicle highway building — all downtown businesses, Elkhart Products Corporation and Geneva Manufacturing.
But members also saw potential in adding areas that may not generate revenue but could improve the overall quality of life for the town with funding, including proposed trail sites.
Warren agreed the additions would be beneficial. He went on to explain that he hadn’t included the entire town, which some commissions throughout the state have chosen to do, in his initial drawing because the district can also be affected negatively if the assessed value of businesses decrease.
“You’re trying to play a game of guessing which companies are going to do good and which ones are going to do bad,” said Warren. “If you do that you’d have to be in the market a lot more.”
The commission agreed to table any approval of the map until areas near Dollar General, the east side of U.S. 27 by the railroad track and additional downtown lots are added to the proposed district.
At its October meeting, members Doug Milligan, Dick Clutter and Jim Timmons, Agnes Schochwill and Warren will have an opportunity to approve the district’s declaratory resolution and economic development plan, which incorporates the definition of boundaries, before holding a public hearing in November to implement the TIF district.
In other business, the commission elected officers.
Members voted unanimously for Clutter as chairman, Timmons as vice chair and Warren as secretary.