Municipalities oppose suggestion to tap special districts for marketing
By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer
Proposed legislation to create a regional economic development agency – which would have allocated 1 percent of all increments generated by municipalities with tax incremental financing districts in Kenosha and Racine counties – will not move forward.
At a Feb. 6 City of Burlington Committee of the Whole meeting, City Administrator Carina Walters told Common Council members the proposal came up during a meeting regarding Foxconn, which plans to build a $10 billion manufacturing facility in the Village of Mount Pleasant.
With Foxconn’s arrival, according to Walters, some people at the meeting saw it as an opportunity for Racine and Kenosha counties to form a joint marketing effort.
State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, who authored the proposal, encouraged municipalities to garner feedback.
Common Council members, however, had a variety of questions, notably how money will be disbursed, how existing TIDs will be affected and how municipalities more than 10 miles from the development could benefit from the new marketing effort.
Meanwhile, in Kenosha County, all municipalities opposed the proposal, County Executive Jim Kreuser said.
“They decided it wasn’t in the county’s best interest,” said Kreuser, who met Feb. 1 with representatives of seven municipalities, including the villages of Salem Lakes, Bristol, Paddock Lake and Twin Lakes.
“There were a number of significant issues at the local level.”
To read the full story, see the Feb. 22 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
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