Geneva schools want more sites added to TIF offer
The Geneva school board wants 13 sites designated as "surplus" in the proposed downtown Geneva tax-increment financing district so it can continue to collect its full share of property taxes from them.
That's 11 more than city officials have offered.
The school board made its counteroffer Monday night on an intergovernmental agreement concerning the proposed Geneva Fox River Redevelopment Project Area, also called TIF 3. The city council is tentatively scheduled to address the matter again July 18.
In a TIF district, property tax payments to governing bodies are frozen at the current level for up to 23 years. Any incremental growth in the taxes is instead diverted to a city-controlled fund used to pay for work that increases a property's value and, presumably, leads to an increase in property tax revenue.
The city suggests the area could use about $30 million in work, including $8 million on streets and utilities.
The city has offered to exempt the Geneva on the Dam complex and the Geneva Place retirement community. Any incremental growth in their property taxes would be distributed to the school district and other taxing bodies.
The school board wants to receive expected increases to how much the TIF district lands would have to pay toward school debt for the next 10 years.
Otherwise, the district says, other taxpayers in the school district will have to pick up the that share. The overall debt payment is expected to climb from $20.3 million in 2016 to $24.5 million by June of 2020.
The district's debt ends in 2026, unless it borrows more money. It owes $233.8 million in principal and interest.
The counterproposal submitted Monday lists properties the school district says are not blighted or significantly deteriorating and are improved by private investors without public aid.
They are on the north side of State Street, from Routes 31 to 25, from the State Farm agency to Mill Race Cyclery.
The contract calls for the school district to give up its right to challenge the TIF district designation, the plan for the it, the approval of TIF financing, and any agreements with developers.
Mayor Kevin Burns says the 13 properties compose 49 percent of the total equalized assessed valuation of the TIF area. The city could borrow money to jump-start the TIF fund, to be repaid with the tax increment.
"I am sure you understand that declaring as surplus 49 percent of the properties in the district is untenable, as it would impede redevelopment efforts and the infrastructure improvements required for the area," Burns wrote June 23 to school board President Mark Grosso. "Therefore, the city council cannot consider adding additional properties to the surplus property."