By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
After passing smoothly through a number of channels last year, the Village of Union Grove officially has a fifth tax-incremental financing district, or TID, on its books.
Now comes a game of wait-and-see.
“Everything (for TID No. 5) was approved late last year,” Village Clerk-Treasurer Jill Kopp said. “Now we’re just waiting for a developer.”
The village created TID No. 5 out of a small portion of the already-in-existence TID No. 4. Eventually, the village hopes to use its newest TID to bring to fruition a market-rate senior housing development on land that once housed a mill. It has since been razed.
TIDs are mechanisms that allow municipalities to borrow money for infrastructure improvements. The increased property tax revenue from the improved land is then diverted from the tax rolls to pay off the loan.
TID No. 4 encompasses much of the village’s downtown area. TID No. 5, by contrast, encapsulates a far more precise tract of land at the intersection of Mill Avenue and State Street.
The rationale behind TID No. 5 has to do with timing. Village President Michael Aimone said the carve-out is designed to accommodate a quality development beyond the life-expectancy of TID No. 4, which is expected to sunset in 18 years.
In addition to the old mill, TID No. 5 includes the former village hall building, which is owned by the village’s Community Development Authority (CDA).
“We’re very hopeful about where this will go,” Kopp said. “There has been some interest out there, although nothing is official just yet.”
There were a series of steps toward bringing TID No. 5 to fruition, including allocating more than $5,000 toward early acquisition costs of the former mill site. The funds also went toward such related projects as obtaining surveys, soliciting input from engineering consultants and obtaining expertise from legal counsel.
In addition to the CDA and Village Board, several other entities had to review and weigh in on the TID No. 5 proposal. One notable panel was a Joint Review Board, whose members backed the plan in early November.
Members of the Joint Review Board include most of the taxing entities within the land area, including the two public school districts — Union Grove Elementary School (K-8) and Union Grove High School (9-12), in addition to representatives from Racine County and Gateway Technical College.
In addition to TID No. 4, Union Grove had one other active TID, No. 3, before No. 5 was created. TID No. 3 is situated along the village’s western end and is aimed at bringing large-scale manufacturing developments into the community.
Union Grove did have a TID No. 1 and No. 2 at one point, but both closed years ago.
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