Eric Gregg: Millions in developments depend on TIF plans of city

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Harrisburg City Council and the council's Tax Increment Financing District consultant, Bob Vancil, took relatively gentle whacks at the Saline County Board during a Thursday meeting of council.

During the most recent meeting of the County Board, members questioned the effect of extending the city's TIF No. 1 and creating a new TIF district for single-family homes and senior citizen housing.

When a TIF district is created, the taxes from the district remain constant, never growing, for taxing bodies; added revenue goes to fund to be used for more improvements in the TIF.

Much of the Sept. 23 meeting of the County Board was devoted to discussing the TIF plans of the city.

During that meeting, according to tax documents provided by County Treasurer Danny Ragan, Arrowhead Shopping Center, which is in Harrisburg's TIF district, has been taxed $140,249 so far this year. Of that, $140,179.68 went into the TIF fund. Unit No. 3 school district received $30.18, and the county received $8.60.

After looking at the documents, State's Attorney Mike Henshaw said, "Something's wrong with that and I don't think it's right."

The discussion also prompted member Gary Siebert to comment, "This whole TIF thing is really scaring me."

The city's current TIF district, the area of shopping centers, the old Wal-Mart building and the area surrounding the roundhouse area, generates for public bodies only the real estate taxes it generated when the district was established.

During the Thursday meeting of council, Vancil began a low-key attack on the county's comments, observing the county has also benefitted, as has the city, through additional sales tax revenue created by businesses within the TIF district.

The bitterness of the city became apparent when Vancil said, "We don't want to start a range war."

"They (the county) started the range war," Commissioner John McPeek said.

"I think they are just scared of the unknown," Commissioner Bart Schiff said.

Mayor Eric Gregg said the council must move the city forward, and he sees an expanded TIF program as part of the solution.

"We have got to take a stand," he said.

"If Harrisburg falters, the county falters," Gregg said.

"We aren't building a city, but we are building a community," Vancil said.

During the County Board meeting, there was some question as to how TIF money has been spent by the city.

"It has been infrastructure improvements," Gregg said on Thursday.

He offered to sit down with anyone interested and explain the expenditures.

During the council meeting he briefly outlined some of the improvements, primarily related to flood control.

He also mentioned one TIF expenditure, a million-gallon water tank far removed from the TIF district that, at the time it was being built, was questioned.

Then-school-board member Judy Cape wondered how the tank qualified as a TIF District expense.

During his Thursday comments, Gregg carefully stated "nothing will be done to harm the school district," but said there are developers interested in Harrisburg.

"We have millions of dollars at stake and I don't want to see that derailed," he said.

Later in the meeting, he set the number at $7 million to $10 million.

"We are in no way, shape or form slighting any other body," Gregg said. "We inherited a lot of issues to deal with."

Little was said about extending TIF No. 1- the original district involving the shopping centers and other development in the northwest part of the city.

Vancil and Gregg did give more information regarding a second TIF, one that would provide for single-family dwellings and senior citizen housing.

Gregg said the TIF would be along the corridor of the state Route 13 Bypass.

It was further defined by Vancil, who said it is an area of 300-year old trees.

Vancil, at one point, made a brief mention of a developer, a "Mr. Johnson."

Vancil said the second TIF would solve a problem of a shrinking population.

He said homes built in a new TIF district would sell for less; he set the number at 25 to 30 percent less than the same home built outside a TIF district.

He also contended senior citizen apartment-style housing would produce a rental savings, drawing more people to Harrisburg.

Vancil said senior citizen apartment-style housing in the anticipated TIF would reduce rent by 75 percent.

Credit card

An old council bugbear again emerged, and again produced lively discussion.

City Treasurer Charlie Will proposed the city get credit cards.

A credit card was obtained during the last administration and that card, with a $1,000 spending limit, generated council concerns.

In the final days of the administration, the credit card was cancelled.

This time, Will did not suggest a $1,000 credit limit on a card. He suggested three cards with limits in the range of $30,000 to $50,000.

Council, on a motion by Ron Fearheiley, allowed the cards, but set the credit limit to $5,000.

Fearheiley said the limits proposed by Will were "extremely too high."

Will said the objective of getting credit cards is to "facilitate payments."

Fearheiley, a retired water and sewer superintendent, pointed out he has spent more city dollars than most people and he never found it a problem to purchase on the city's credit.