Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout03. 13-250MAY 28, 2013 13 -250 RESOLUTION (CARRIED PURPOSE INITIATED BY 6 -0 LOST LAID OVER WITHDRAWN ) AS AMENDED APPROVE TAX INCREMENT FINANCE (TIF) CLOSURE POLICY FINANCE & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT LONG RANGE FINANCE COMMITTEE: Recommends approval WHEREAS, tax increment finance districts have mandatory closing dates, based on the type of district; and WHEREAS, Wisconsin Statutes require TIF districts be closed when all project costs have been paid; and WHEREAS, it is desirable to establish a Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Closure Policy that sets out the process and recommends options for disbursement of the City's share of the cash balance of a district; and WHEREAS, the Long Range Finance Committee has reviewed the proposed TIF Closure Policy and recommends any City cash balances be utilized for economic development activities to grow the City's tax base and benefit the community as a whole. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the attached Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Closure Policy is hereby approved. SEE ATTACHMENT FOR AMENDMENT City of Oshkosh Community Development Department OfHKO1H 215 Church Avenue, Oshkosh, WI 54903 ON THE WATER TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the Common Council FROM: Allen Davis, Community Development Director DATE: May 23, 2013 SUBJECT: TIF Closure Policy BACKGROUND Staff has been working on a TIF Closure Policy as a follow -up to the TIF Creation Policy and application. The City creates and will eventually close every TIF District. The remaining questions are how and when the Districts are closed. State Statute requires districts be closed when all project costs have been paid. But prior to that point, the City has a series of questions it should consider prior to reaching that closure. The attached TIF Closure Policy attempts to set out the process and recommend options for disbursement of the cash balance in the District account. ANALYSIS The City has no current TIF Closure Policy. The City has made decisions on TIF closure on a case by case basis to this point. The City has used the option to create a donor/donee TIF in the past in multiple occasions. More recently, the City has extended two Districts to fund affordable housing. However, the City has not reviewed the options for using the cash balance due the City from a District closure. This TIF Closure Policy attempts to describe the step -by -step decision - making process the City should use prior to closing a District. The process laid out in the closure policy is based on the timeline for a District closeout. The steps can only move forward and cannot revert back to a previous step. The first step cannot be revisited or reconsidered if a decision has been made. Likewise, the second step cannot be reconsidered after the fact. Lastly, the fund balance disbursement is the final disposition of District funds, and cannot be recovered from the other taxing jurisdictions. FISCAL IMPACT The District closure policy does not and cannot predict a fiscal outcome for all districts. Each decision the City Council makes will have a fiscal impact in the process of closing a District. For example, a donor/donee decision would affect the performance and closing date of each District involved. Likewise, the affordable housing extension would delay the disbursement of any cash balance. Finally, the City's share of the cash balance may be used for any City purpose such capital, operations or debt payments. Although State Statute does not currently restrict the use of funds distributed to a city following the District closure, the Long Range Finance Committee (LRFC) has recommended using these funds for economic development purposes. Please refer to the memo from LRFC Chair Harold Buchholz. This recommendation in effect is creating a one -time use of one -time funds. Staff concurs with the LRFC recommendation from a financial as well as a community /economic development standpoint. RECOMMENDATION The City's Strategic Plan identifies the establishment of a Revolving Loan Fund as a priority objective in achieving its goal to Support Business /Economic Development. This TIF Closure Policy would allow the City to achieve that objective by the end of the 2nd Quarter of 2013. Approved, City Manager City of Oshkosh Finance Department 215 Church Ave., PO Box 1130 Oshkosh, Wi 54903 -1130 01HKOIH (920) 236 -5005 (920) 236 -5039 FAX ON THE WATER MEMORANDUM DATE: May 15, 2013 TO: Council Members FROM: Harold Buchholz, 'Chair Long Range Finance Committee RE: Recommendation Regarding the Draft TIF Closure Review Process ! Policy and Buy -In to the Regional Economic Revolving Loan Fund The Long Range Finance Committee has completed its review of the 'Draft TIF (Tax Increment Finance) Closure Review Process /Policy' and the potential buy -in to the regional economic development revolving loan fund as requested by staff and the Council. To that end, the Committee offers the following recommendations to the Council. TIF Closure Policy — Remainder Funds The Committee recognizes that the City has a number of competing needs for these funds, such as an Equipment Replacement Fund and debt reduction. However, because tax increment financing is an economic development tool, the Committee strongly recommends that any remaining funds that are returned to the City from TIF closures also be utilized solely for economic development activities. We believe that this recommendation is in line with the spirit of the agreements that are made when TIF's are created. In addition, by using these funds for economic development purposes, the City will be growing the tax base and benefiting the entire City. BuI !n to the Regional Economic Development Revolving Loan Fund The Committee also strongly recommends that the City buy into the regional economic development revolving loan fund in 2013. This is the first time that buy -in to this fund is being offered to the City, and we believe it would be very advantageous to the City to be involved. Over time, the buy -in amount of $500,000 will enable the City to have access to the fund's average balance of approximately $6.6 Million. In order to fund the estimated $500,000 buy -in, the Committee recommends using the funds remaining from the closure of TIF #6, in 2013. This equates to approximately $325,000, and will partially fund this initiative. The Committee further recommends that the City's General Fund pay the additional $175,000 that is needed to complete the buy -in, as a one -time expenditure, to fully fund the revolving loan fund buy -in in 2013. The funds contributed by the General Fund would be a temporary loan only as the City has another TIF, #8, closing in 2014, and the City's expected remainder funds from this TIF, currently estimated at $984,000, would be more than sufficient to repay the General Fund in 2014. Please feel free to contact me with any questions you have on these recommendations, or if you need further information from the Committee on this, or any other, issue. REVISED Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District Draft TIF Closure Review Process /Policy May 23, 2013 Tax Increment Finance (TIF) Districts have mandatory closing dates, based on the type of district. In general, the TIF District must first pay off project costs including interest, administration, financing, legal etc. The City depends on a TIF District paying off all of its outstanding obligations; otherwise the City is required to assume the remaining TIF obligations. The following options are listed in chronological order based on the time of action needed prior to terminating a TIF District. Each TIF District will go through the following process. All of these options can be used in tandem with one another. The dollar amount for each activity and the timing for each activity would depend on the individual TIF District's financial performance. A. Create a TIF donor /donee with an amended Project Plan. A well - performing TIF district can be used as a donor TIF for another under - performing TIF(s). This action requires Joint Review Board approval and has been done in the past in the City. This choice can be made in any year up to the termination of the TIF District. B. Fund Affordable Housing. One additional year of tax increment may be collected in a TIF District if the funds will be used for affordable housing — the 1 -year extension of the District would be a City Council decision. This choice can only be made in the year prior to the closure of the TIF District. At the end of a TIF District's life, if the District has remaining funds upon termination of the TIF District, the funds shall be distributed to the public entities that are entitled to them in accordance with Wisconsin Statutes. The funds distributed to the City of Oshkosh shall be used as follows: Use cash balance in TIF account for future economic development activities ',,,gin BOLD & ITALICS INDICATES AMENDMENT