This afternoon the senate passed a set of bills, HB 4458-4464, to prohibit a TIF district from keeping tax increment revenues from ad valorem property taxes levied under the Zoological Authorities Act and the Art Institute Authorities Act.  This language is added into the following acts:

• Tax Increment Financing Authority Act
• Downtown Development Authority Act
• Brownfield Redevelopment Financing Act
• Local Development Financing Act
• Corridor Improvement Authority Act
• Nonprofit Street Railway Act
• Private Investment Infrastructure Act.

In this debate we want to make sure the value these districts have on local communities throughout the state is not lost.   I would encourage you to contact your legislators and let them know the benefit of the TIFs used in your community as well as give them an idea of the investments that they have brought into the area so they can understand the importance of them for economic development purposes.  These are a few of the last tools communities have to revitalize struggling areas and to not have them or severely limit them would have a detrimental impact on not just the municipality but the entire region.

Nikki Brown is a legislative associate for the League handling economic development and land use issues.  She can be reached at nbrown@mml.org or 517-908-0305.