Staff writer
Hillsboro City Council voted Dec. 23 to create a tax-increment finance (TIF) district in Hillsboro Business Park.
The district, which also will include the old AMPI building, will fund infrastructure improvements in the district, city administrator Larry Paine said.
Improvements in the district will be paid for with increased taxes from development in the district, Paine said. It is an alternative to paying for infrastructure with general obligation bonds.
“I like tax-increment financing,” council member Shane Marler said. “It’s creative and a great asset for smaller communities.”
Mayor Delores Dalke said she testified every year in Topeka about the need for TIFs before Kansas approved its use in the state.
In other business:
- The council amended the 2008 budget. The industrial, special highway, township fire equipment, municipal court, and capital improvement funds were amended to account for changes since the budget was approved in August 2007. No tax increases are needed for the budget changes, Paine said. The biggest change to the budget is $2 million for the lagoon project in the capital improvement fund. The project will be paid for by funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture when it is completed, and is being funded with interim financing from Kansas Department of Health and Environment.