TIF a necessary tool for growth Chad Heiman

The 21st century global economy we live and work in is consistently evolving. The rapid pace by which business owners must adapt to meet market demands has never been more challenging.

As a community and region it is critical that we promote public policy that allows companies the option to not only operate their business under the status quo, but create an environment that promotes capital investment, company expansion and job creation.

MISINFORMATION

On the local level, the key tool to aid in doing this is Tax Increment Financing (TIF). There has been misinformation about TIF; specifically, how it works and the side effects of the tool being used. Marion has chosen to be forward thinking and responsible in using TIF as an incentive for companies to do business in our community.

It has been written that TIF incentives are awarded by a City Council without any public approval process; this would violate Iowa Code. A public hearing before the City Council is required for any new TIF project before it gets approval.

An additional public hearing must take place before an amendment to the Urban Renewal Area (designated area in which TIF project occurs) is approved. The process is public and allows for citizen involvement.

How do cities protect their investment? TIF incentives are financed through new property taxes that are generated by the development; current public funds are not used to finance the TIF incentive. An estimate is provided in the development agreement, but the actual TIF award is determined by the assessor. Taxpayers are protected because whoever has title to the property will be subject to pay the associated property taxes. With new development, no existing revenues are lost because of TIF.

ESCO GROUP'S TIF

The ESCO Group in Marion was awarded a TIF incentive package for construction of its new corporate headquarters in Marion's Tower Terrace Road corridor. The ESCO Group is a Marion-based company that provides plant automation, electrical construction, power engineering, testing and safety training. The City of Marion provided ESCO with a $200,000 grant and an annual 60 percent rebate on their property taxes starting in 2013 and expiring in 2022, The total rebate will not exceed $1 million, per the agreement.

Because of this incentive package, ESCO chose to locate in Marion and brought a capital investment of $5.8 million for the community. The expansion is leading to the creation of 25 new, highly technical, quality jobs in the corridor. A law of economics states that people respond to incentives. The ESCO Group responded by building in a newly developing region in Marion and the commercial property tax base is expanding because of it. Many projects would not have happened without the economic development tool of TIF.

Before the development of the ESCO headquarters, the 2.85-acre piece of ag-land that ESCO now sits on would bring an estimated $4,000 in property taxes. Following development of this land, the estimated property tax bill will stand at an estimated $130,000 annually. I think we can all agree that a 1,315 percent increase in assessed value is a quality return on investment for Marion, our schools and our citizens.

The return on investment is magnified when one considers that new employees in the community will need places to live, stores to shop and restaurants in which to dine. Existing private business benefits because of TIF. The positive impact of this economic development tool is felt well beyond the brick and mortar involved with new construction.

ESCO CEO Ray Brown told us: 'By opening up this valuable development area, Marion has great opportunity to expand its tax base to more commercial-light industrial, helping ease the tax burden of residential while also creating quality of life opportunities within this development.”

FAIR PLAY DEALS

Positive community development is everyone's goal. One recent opinion was that 'trying to move businesses from one community to another with competing TIF bribes is a lose-lose game,” and I would agree with that assessment.

That is why the communities in the Cedar Rapids metro area have signed fair-play agreements with each other establishing guidelines for communities when creating TIF incentive packages in the Corridor. When Marion experiences expansion, the Corridor as a whole benefits; the same can be said about business growth in the entire Cedar Rapids metro area.

Marion is one of the fastest-growing communities in Iowa, and that presents challenges, but we are growing our commercial and industrial tax base in a responsible manner. Making policy decisions or sweeping generalizations about TIF without facts, and based on one occurrence or anecdotal evidence, is dangerous.

TIF is anything but a lose-lose tool - it is the tool that allows private enterprise to flourish while giving communities the opportunity to realize its true economic potential. It's a win-win for everyone.

l Chad Heiman is Communications Manager for Marion Economic Development Company. Comments: chad@medcoiowa.org