Council turns down TIF loan payments It approves a loan to fix the Washington Street Inn but not repayment via tax increments By Ray Barrington News-Chronicle A proposed loan to pay for remodeling the Washington Street Inn and Conference Center passed the Green Bay City Council Tuesday but only after the council voted against allowing the owner to use TIF payments to repay up to $10,000 a year on the 19-year loan. The loan of $500,000 will come from a state trust fund loan, to be borrowed by the city and re-loaned to the motel's owner, Paul Vandenwymelenberg. It is one of two loans he is using on the $1.5 million project; the other is a Small Business Administration loan. The rest is coming from him personally. Ald. Guy Zima led the council against the use of TIF funds to pay back part of the loan. Tax increment financing takes the difference between original property value and value after improvements are made and puts it aside for various uses. It is being used, for example, for parts of the Nicolet National Bank project to be built on North Washington Street. Zima called the TIF plan to payback part of the loan "a gift" and said he was not happy with the rest of the proposal, but would let the loan go. "A big loan at low interest is gift enough," he said. Other members of the council agreed that the TIF pay back proposal wasn't something they could support. Ald. Dan Haefs expressed his belief that TIF funds were to be used only as "a playing field leveler" to take care of additional costs of doing business downtown. Others said giving the owner a loan and letting him pay it back with taxes was something that was not available to other businesses. Vandenwymelenberg said he was trying to keep the property from deteriorating to a substandard level. He said his inn had suffered in recent years from cutbacks in leisure travel and a lack of business travel caused by closings in the Washington Commons mall. Occupancy rates have dropped from 75 percent to 55 percent. His primary business is on weekends, he said, and he was in danger of losing his position as an "overflow" hotel for conventions at the KI Convention Center. His plans include a complete rebuilding of the inside to upgrade rooms and corridors, as well as a new entryway and signage. Ald. Tony Theisen spoke in favor of the proposal, saying it was needed to halt an even bigger drop in property value and tax revenue. But an attempt to refer the issue back to the Redevelopment Authority for further negotiation failed 7-5, and the vote to remove the TIF payments from the loan term sheet passed 11-1 with Ald. Fred Graves the only "no" vote. ” The council posed for an official picture and Mayor Jim Schmitt showed off a 150th anniversary "time capsule," to be placed on City Hall property and be opened in 50 years on Green Bay's 200th anniversary. The photo, essays from schoolchildren, newspapers and other memorabilia will be deposited in the capsule.