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There are ten Tax Increment Financing districts in Monroe County, seven of which are inside Bloomington city limits.

Bloomington

The seven TIF districts in Bloomington are known as:

• Adam's Crossing (Blue)
• Thomson (Green)
• Tapp Road (Red)
• Thompson/Walnut/Winslow (Pink)
• Downtown (Purple)
• N. Kinser Pike/Prow Road
• Whitehall/West Third (Cyan)

Monroe County

Three additional TIF districts exist in the county outside of Bloomington city limits.

Westside TIF

The Westside TIF is in a roughly triangular district of more than 600 acres, bounded by 3rd Street, SR 37, Woodyard Road, and Hartstraight Road. It is the location of Cook Group's world headquarters. The district was created in 1995 and the county borrowed approximately $3 million based on expected tax revenues in the district. The money went to:

• Realign and extend Vernal Pike, and run sewer and water lines
• Build a road from the General Electric entrance on Curry Pike, going east
• Extend Profile Parkway south, from the north side of GE to SR 48.

In 2004, the borrowed money was fully repaid, and in 2007 the county approved borrowing an additional $5 million in order to build a new Life Sciences Center at Ivy Tech.

The value of the property in this district changes substantially from year to year:

Major landowners in the district have included Cook Group, General Electric, PetSmart, TOL Real Estate, and Sunrise Publications.

Fullerton Pike TIF

This district was originally formed in order to finance connecting Fullerton Pike and Gordon Pike, creating a new east-west corridor from Walnut Street to SR 37. It is unknown when or if this extension will take place.

Monroe Hospital lies in this district.

46 TIF

The district officially known as "North Park" and unofficially dubbed "Criderville" comprises roughly a square mile, bounded on the west by Curry Pike, on the north by SR 46 West and Acuff Road, on the east by SR 37, and on the south by Vernal Pike, excluding most of the existing residentially developed properties. The county borrowed $7 million based on the expected value of the property in this district, and will turn the money over to construction company Crider & Crider to develop the area.

Crider & Crider also own the property they will be developing with the $7 million, which is why it is often referred to as "Criderville."

Construction expected in this area includes Bloomington Hospital, a new office tower called Office Center One, and North Park Town Center, a speculative development suggested by Situs Realty Corporation of Indianapolis.

Usage

Cities and counties borrow money (bond) against anticipated future property taxes within a TIF area, and the money borrowed can be used for any "infrastructure" project. There are virtually no limits on what can be considered "infrastructure." In effect, designating the area as a TIF allows the city or county to target property taxes collected in the area to pay back the debt.

In theory, the value of the property in the area will go up ("increment") and the city or county will be able to collect additional taxes to pay off the debt. However, since the taxes collected will not go to government agencies or schools outside the TIF, even as they are expected to provide services to people and businesses inside the TIF, either these departments must accept less property tax money or raise taxes in non-TIF areas.

Some, however, consider the TIF strategy to be a political manoeuvre allowing development projects to take place without the explicit approval or disapproval of elected officials (1). TIF designation, as well as the borrowing of money for the TIF and the determination of how, and where, that money will be spent is given to a five-member redevelopment commission. Members of redevelopment commissions are not elected, but have both executive and fiscal decision-making powers.

Background

Originally implemented in California, during the mid-1950s, Tax Increment Financing (TIF) was seen as a way of revitalizing and redeveloping inner-city brownfields. By guaranteeing that any new taxes collected in the area (called a Tax Increment District, or TID) could only be spent within the TID, TIF was hoped to be an incentive to private redevelopment of blighted land.

Today, the strategy of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is used by thousands of cities around the country as a loophole to state-imposed property tax caps.

There are more than 100 TIF districts in Indiana, more than all but three other states. In Indiana, the overwhelming use of TIF financing is not the original intention of redevelopment of blighted urban areas, but the conversion of suburban "greenfields" into retail shopping. 70% of TIF districts in Indiana are used for suburban retail development (2).

Creation

The process for creating a new TIF district is laid out by state law and is as follows (1):

1. The Monroe County Redevelopment Commission must adopt a declaratory resolution designating the area blighted and incapable of normal economic development. It must also approve the development plan.
2. The plan and resolution must be approved by the Monroe County Planning Commission. The commission's recommendation is forwarded to the Monroe County Commissioners who may take it under advisement.
3. The plan and resolution must be approved by the Monroe County Commissioners.
4. The redevelopment commission must conduct a public hearing on the plan and adopt a confirmatory resolution finally approving the designation of the area.

References:

• Wikipedia
• http://www.illinois-tif.com/
• Assocation of Monroe County Taxpayers (General)
• Association of Monroe County Taxpayers (Criderville)
• Bloomington Alternative
• Tax Increment Financing