Iowa House focuses on TIF use in Coralville

Coralville City Administrator Kelly Hayworth was on the hot seat Thursday as the Iowa House probed the way the city is using tax increment financing  in its Iowa River Landing commercial development.

Retail growth in Coralville has skyrocketed since the city began using TIFs in 1998 to develop land that is now Coral Ridge Mall. The city has borrowed over $200 million in bonds to be repaid by tax increment financing, Hayworth told the House Government Oversight Committee.

The city now is using TIF to finance its Iowa River Landing commercial project , which last fall landed a Von Maur department store as its retail anchor. The Von Maur deal, heavily subsidized with TIF, has raised eyebrows and the ire of neighboring Iowa City, which has a strong possibility of losing its own Von Maur department store at Sycamore Mall.

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