The mayor of Normal said the extension and enlargement of a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district won't hurt schools and other taxing bodies.
Speaking on GLT's Sound Ideas, Chris Koos said that's because the town will give the taxing bodies money from the district when the TIF district was originally scheduled to end.
"And so in 2026 when the current TIF would expire, we will take all the dollars that the taxing bodies were supposed to get in 2016 and rebate those dollars to them," said Koos.
Koos said the town chose to extend the current TIF instead of creating a new and smaller TIF because it's bureaucratically easier to do that.
"In effect, all the taxing bodies would be made whole in 2026 except for that one area. And currently that one area doesn't generate any revenue because the town owns all the property, so it generates no taxes now—none," said Koos.
The three small parcels of land in the new section of the development district are part of the proposed Trail East project.
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