When should a City approving a Tax Increment Financing District be forced to notify the other local tax entities like school districts, counties, and park districts that they’re going to excuse property taxes for public improvements? And do other tax entities have the right to negotiate their own deals with TIF project developers? Those are the questions being asked in consideration of a House Bill 1495.
Why does it matter in Minot? It was one of our recent TIF projects that triggered the questions. The Big M building TIF was approved last spring. And we’ve also just approved the TIF for The Tracks project. That approval raised some of the same notification questions; we’ll be publishing more on that in the coming days. Also, if you’re looking for a little more on what exactly a TIF is, this may help.