It takes a village to create a TIF district The village of Suamico is in the process of creating a TIF District within the private business park adjacent to U.S. 41/141 (photo by H. Marc Larson). Suamico once again will try to create a TIF district in a business park near East Deerfield Road By Monique Balas News-Chronicle Following a procedural error that blocked this year's attempts, the village of Suamico in January will restart the process of establishing a tax incremental financing district in a privately owned business park along East Deerfield Road. Being able to create a TIF district is a luxury the recently incorporated village may now enjoy. "If the area develops like we hope it does, then we'll have quite a bit more business in the area, and it'll increase the tax base. Once it's paid off, then it goes back to the original revenue," said Village President Tom Lund. The village is hoping a major road upgrade, including curbing, and utility expansion in an area along East Deerfield Road will attract more businesses and stimulate economic development. The parameters expand from East Deerfield over the top of Harbor Lights Road and include a small portion of West Deerfield Road, north of Lineville Road and adjacent to U.S. 41/141. Creating a TIF district in that area would increase the property values and tax base, allowing the village to collect more revenue once improvement costs are paid off. Taxpayers wouldn't have to pick up the financial burden of improvements and ultimately, the district would pay for itself and the village would come out ahead. "People don't want to develop a business where there's not good roads, where they don't have sewer and water. It's an incentive, by bringing sewer, water and roads and have the district pay for it, it's an incentive to bring business to that area," Lund said. Lund said it will likely take 10 to 15 years to pay off the costs of utilities and roadwork, and the property taxes collected from TIF businesses during that time will only go toward improvements. But once that's paid off, the district will add to the village's tax base. "The only thing that goes back to the village is what the property value was before the TIF," Lund said. "Any additional moneys go to pay for the TIF. That way you're able to do projects like that without having to go on the general tax levy, so you can really see what you get out of the project." The village originally started the process of creating a TIF district earlier this year, but a scheduling snafu prevented it from meeting state requirements by the Sept. 30 deadline. The required process involves posting a notice of intent to create the TIF district, followed by an organizational meeting of a joint review board (which must include members of the public, representatives from the municipality, school and tax districts), and then a public meeting, which must be held with proper notification in a two-week time frame following the review committee meeting. "We failed to hold the organizational meeting before the public hearing," said Village Administrator Richard Johnston. He said he checked the state statute after something told him he was forgetting a step in the TIF creation process. "I had one of those nagging sensations at the back of my head," Johnston said. "It was initially a gut feeling." Budget meetings and elections for new village representatives have kept the new village from restarting the process this year, but Johnston said it will likely begin the TIF district creation process in January, well before the next Sept. 30 deadline. "We'll have the notice again and this time we'll have the original meeting within a 14-day period and then hold the public hearing, and then we'll march on down the road," Johnston said.