TELL CITY – “TIF districts have a wonderful purposed when they’re used as intended,” Tell City Troy Township School Board Trustee Sherry Flynn said as she discussed the amount of school revenue lost due to local tax-increment financing. “It brings in industry that brings in more population, that means more in what we retain in taxes … My problem with the TIF and the school corporation is the TIF is not being dissolved once the bonds are paid off. And that is the promise we were made.”
Speaking about bonds issued to construct the courthouse and those reissued to facilitate its remodeling, “We were assured that once those bonds were paid back the money would flow back to the individual taxing units, and that has not happened,” she continued.
Those statements were made during a presentation at the school board’s July 12 regular at which Flynn provided an overview of what TIF is and how it functions. It was part of a months-long debate about how the school board should view the county’s use of TIF.
It has been a divisive topic, with some members, like Flynn, very outspoken in their opinions. However, according to school superintendent John Scioldo, there isn’t an official school corporation stance on the issue and the latest report was simply one board member’s view.
In battling the constraints of budget shortfalls, Scioldo was able to secure an annual $110,000 appropriation from the TIF allocation. That money has been used to conduct a number of improvements in the schools.
Scioldo also pointed out the school board has a representative on the Perry County Redevelopment Commission which oversees TIF spending. A nonvoting member, Mack Cail, has drawn criticism from Flynn for not being more outspoken in that role on issues that impact the school corporation.
In the most recent discussion, Flynn explained TIF basically freezes taxes and applies the resulting revenue into a new account that can be used to pay bonds that facilitate upgrades.
“All public bodies that have benefited from the redevelopment share in the costs associated with redevelopment,” she explained. “How do we share in that? What’s happening is those property taxes are being diverted into the TIF. They’re not being distributed to the normal taxing units.”
With three TIF allocation areas currently drawing revenue, all based in Troy Township, Flynn argued that of the county’s three school districts, only Tell City Troy Township Schools are affected by the TIF configuration.
Flynn argued that when the bonds that fund redevelopment are paid, they should be allowed to dissolve.
The end result should provide a higher tax base that yields greater disbursements to agencies that relies on such tax revenue. However, the recent TIFs haven’t TELL CITY – “TIF districts have a wonderful purposed when they’re used as intended,” Tell City Troy Township School Board Trustee Sherry Flynn said as she discussed the amount of school revenue lost due to local tax-increment financing. “It brings in industry that brings in more population, that means more in what we retain in taxes … My problem with the TIF and the school corporation is the TIF is not being dissolved once the bonds are paid off. And that is the promise we were made.”
Speaking about bonds issued to construct the courthouse and those reissued to facilitate its remodeling, “We were assured that once those bonds were paid back the money would flow back to the individual taxing units, and that has not happened,” she continued.
Those statements were made during a presentation at the school board’s July 12 regular at which Flynn provided an overview of what TIF is and how it functions. It was part of a months-long debate about how the school board should view the county’s use of TIF.
It has been a divisive topic, with some members, like Flynn, very outspoken in their opinions. However, according to school superintendent John Scioldo, there isn’t an official school corporation stance on the issue and the latest report was simply one board member’s view.
In battling the constraints of budget shortfalls, Scioldo was able to secure an annual $110,000 appropriation from the TIF allocation. That money has been used to conduct a number of improvements in the schools.
Scioldo also pointed out the school board has a representative on the Perry County Redevelopment Commission which oversees TIF spending. A nonvoting member, Mack Cail, has drawn criticism from Flynn for not being more outspoken in that role on issues that impact the school corporation.
In the most recent discussion, Flynn explained TIF basically freezes taxes and applies the resulting revenue into a new account that can be used to pay bonds that facilitate upgrades.
“All public bodies that have benefited from the redevelopment share in the costs associated with redevelopment,” she explained. “How do we share in that? What’s happening is those property taxes are being diverted into the TIF. They’re not being distributed to the normal taxing units.”
With three TIF allocation areas currently drawing revenue, all based in Troy Township, Flynn argued that of the county’s three school districts, only Tell City Troy Township Schools are affected by the TIF configuration.
Flynn argued that when the bonds that fund redevelopment are paid, they should be allowed to dissolve.
The end result should provide a higher tax base that yields greater disbursements to agencies that relies on such tax revenue. However, the recent TIFs haven’t been disestablished after bond repayments and, as such, the school hasn’t fully benefited from the developments that are adding to the tax rolls.
“Once the TIF is dissolved, there’d be a greater amount of tax dollars to be shared by everyone (taxing units of Troy Township),” she continued.
Using information provided by the Indiana Department of Local Finance, Flynn estimated more than 14 percent of the county’s assessed value is captured into TIF. In 2013, that amounted to a diverted appropriation of $1.56 million. Based on improvements made since, that amount jumped to $2.31 in 2015.
Based on the latter figure, Flynn calculated the school corporation lost out on $1.48 million before figuring in tax-cap circuit breakers. All said, had there not been any TIF districts, she believes the corporation would have received an additional $653,000 in this past year’s budget.
However, she added that their last budget was also shorted by $700,000 due to tax cap that factored in because of the active TIFs. Based on a lot of what-ifs, TIF easily caused a reduction of about $1.4 million.
While Scioldo recognizes there are substantial impacts from tax caps that are in line with Flynn’s report (though the maximum returns may be overstated) he reiterated that TIF money has already been earmarked for continued improvements and it’s unlikely county leaders would rescind funding toward those obligations. He highlighted that he will continue school efforts to remain frugal in their spending and work within the constraints presented to them.
This month, the Perry County Redevelopment Commission voted to begin on the armory construction, an endeavor that will exceed $600,000, all paid from TIF funds.
Flynn pointed out that she saw the need for a new courthouse and jail, as well as current plans to convert the armory into municipal offices. However, those are upgrades that benefit the entire county, she said, and ones that only those in Troy Township are funding.
“Shouldn’t that money be coming from all county rate payers?” she asked. “These projects should be paid for with county money not Troy Township money.”