The city of St. Joseph is moving forward with a proposal to help generate revenue for improvements downtown.
At a meeting this week, city commissioners heard from Andrew Haan of Cornerstone Alliance about setting up a Tax Increment Financing district for the Downtown Development Authority. Haan said under state law, the city can establish a zone in which revenue for the DDA can be captured.
“What that does is allows the Downtown Development Authority to capture the growth of the tax revenues within that district for a set period of time, up to 30 years,” Haan said.
Haan said this won’t mean any new taxes, and no one will pay more. He noted the city had a TIF for the downtown at one time, but it lapsed back in the 1980s. Cornerstone Alliance has proposed bringing it back so all kinds of improvements downtown can be better supported.
“DDA operations and maintenance. So that’s things like the parking lots downtown, seasonal plantings and decor, landscaping, operating supplies, all the day-to-day stuff it takes to keep a downtown functioning.”
Haan said the funds captured by the TIF could also be used for marketing campaigns, public art, landscaping, and streetscaping.
The first step the city needs to follow in order to set up a TIF for the downtown is to create a Downtown Development Area Citizens Council made up of residents who live in the boundaries of the TIF. It will have nine members. Commissioners approved the establishment of the council, and city staff will now work to find potential members. They’ll be brought back to commissioners for consideration at a later date.
From Haan’s presentation Monday night:
