Tuesday, November 15, 2005
TIF Tax and Power Shifts, Of Representation and Taxation
While TIFs (Tax Increment Financing districts) are sold as economic development tools, they can also be viewed as a means of shifting money and the power to spend it.
The winners in a TIF district are the local municipal officials who control the flow of property tax dollars for the succeeding 23 years and the developers that get subsidized.
The losers are the homeowners and businesses that will see their tax bills increase in order to compensate the schools, parks, community colleges, etc., so those other local governments can receive as many real estate dollars as they would have gotten had the TIF never been approved.
The other tax districts will lose no revenue, because they will merely raise their tax rates for everyone outside of the TIF district.
For how power shifts when a TIF district is formed, click here.
The winners in a TIF district are the local municipal officials who control the flow of property tax dollars for the succeeding 23 years and the developers that get subsidized.
The losers are the homeowners and businesses that will see their tax bills increase in order to compensate the schools, parks, community colleges, etc., so those other local governments can receive as many real estate dollars as they would have gotten had the TIF never been approved.
The other tax districts will lose no revenue, because they will merely raise their tax rates for everyone outside of the TIF district.
For how power shifts when a TIF district is formed, click here.
