EM village board directs work to begin on forming TIF 2
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
By LeAnn R. Ralph
ELK MOUND — The Elk Mound Village Board has directed the village’s financial consultant to begin the first phase of creating a second Tax Increment Financing District (TIF).
In addition to directing Sean Lentz of Ehlers to start the first phase of the scope of services in creating TIF 2 at the August 17 meeting, the village board authorized the village’s attorney to begin negotiating a pre-developer’s agreement with Settlers Ridge LLC.
The Elk Mound Village Board met using the Zoom online platform.
Lentz told the village board that the second TIF district could be in place by the end of year.
Jim Rooney, representing Settlers Ridge LLC, first approached the village board about creating a second TIF district at the August 3 meeting.
Settlers Ridge LLC owns 117 acres in Elk Mound, and all but 21 acres are in the existing TIF district.
The benefit to creating a second TIF district is that it could include TIF 1 and extend the lifetime for another 20 years of the property being in a TIF district, Rooney said at the August 17 meeting.
The steps to creating TIF 2 include identifying the property that will be in the TIF district, forming a Joint Review Board, and having the Elk Mound Plan Commission publish the proper notice and then conduct a public hearing about TIF 2, Lentz said.
Joint TIF Review Boards include representatives from the village, the school district, the county and the technical college district.
Property taxes that are due to the school district, the county, the village and the technical college district on the improvements made in the TIF district go into a special fund to help pay for additional improvements in the TIF district, such as infrastructure. At the end of the life of the TIF, the taxing authorities receive their portion of the money left in the fund.
TIF map
Steven Abraham, village president, asked if it is necessary to have all of the property identified first or could the process be started by creating the Joint Review Board?
It would be better to have most of the property identified before creating the Joint Review Board and holding the public hearing, Lentz said.
The property can be identified by a map or by written description, although the property included in the TIF can change, he said.
Lentz said he recommended doing as much work as possible to identify the property that would be in TIF 2 before the public hearing.
A parcel can be added or removed here or there, but knowing the majority of the property that will be in the TIF will be beneficial for the purposes of a Joint Review Board meeting and a public hearing, he said.
The Joint Review Board meeting for TIF 2 must be held before the public hearing, and Lentz said he recommended holding both meetings on the same day.
That way, if the members of the Joint Review Board want to attend the public hearing, they can do it without having to make two trips to Elk Mound, Lentz said.
Terry Stamm, village trustee, asked about appointing a member-at-large for the Joint Review Board.
The village should have someone in mind for the fifth member at the time of the first Joint Review Board meeting, Lentz said.
Although not required, the person nominated to serve as the member-at-large could be at the First Joint Review Board meeting. While the Joint Review Board might not support the village’s suggestion for the fifth member, it is rare for Joint Review Boards to object to the village’s member-at-large, he said.
Population
The proposed Settlers Ridge development could double the population of Elk Mound, Abraham said.
Although the proposed development could sound intimidating to Elk Mound residents, this is a long process, Rooney said.
If a thousand people were added to Elk Mound’s population over five to 10 years, that would be “dramatic growth,” he said.
To create the growth, additional water capacity and other infrastructure will be needed, and the growth is more likely to occur over 10 years, 20 years or 30 years, Rooney said.
Timeline
Lentz said he had provided a scope of services to Pat Hahn, village clerk-treasurer, that contains all the steps and responsibilities for creating a second TIF district.
The bulk of the work will occur throughout the month of September. The notices about a public hearing held by the plan commission will be issued in early October, and the Joint Review Board meeting and the public hearing will be held at the end of October, Lentz said.
The Elk Mound Village Board can then approve TIF 2 at a regular meeting toward the middle of November, he said.
The Elk Mound Village Board voted unanimously to direct Ehlers to begin Phase 1 of the scope of services to create TIF 2 and to authorize the village’s attorney to begin negotiating a pre-developer’s agreement with Settlers Ridge LLC.
In addition to Abraham and Stamm, also voting in favor of the motion were Village Trustees Cynthia Abraham, Jesse Jenson, Deb Creaser-Kipp, Greg Kipp and Paula Turner.
Dollar General
Creaser-Kipp, chair of the village board’s public property and finance committee, reported that the committee had met with the goal of discussing the negotiations for purchase of the land next to the village hall for a Dollar General store.
The agenda item was tabled because there were certain aspects of the proposal committee members were not comfortable with, and the matter was sent to the village’s legal counsel, she said.
The village’s legal counsel, who also participated in the Zoom meeting, said he had a telephone call set up with the developer’s attorney to “pin down” certain parts of the proposal.
The property and finance committee did authorize going forward with an appraisal of the property, Creaser-Kipp said.
Other business
In other business, the Elk Mound Village Board:
• Received a report from Village Trustee Greg Kipp, the village board’s representative on the Elk Mound fire board, which had recently held its first meeting since February. The fire department has gone out on 26 runs so far this year, which is an average number of runs, he said. Two firefighters have moved out of the village, but three firefighters have moved it, and the roster now contains 23 firefighters, Kipp said. The firefighters have been practicing the protocols for dealing with COVID-19, he said.
• Changed the September 7 meeting to September 2 at 6 p.m. September 7 is Labor Day.
• Approve remaining with Dunn County Solid Waste & Recycling.
