EDINBURGH — The town of Edinburgh has already pledged to help Edinburgh Community Schools fund its first school resource officer, and town officials want to assist the district with any future needs using funds from tax increment finance districts.
Late last year, the town created four tax increment finance districts, commonly known as TIF districts, with the goal of encouraging local development. With a tax increment finance district, the town can collect property tax money from those geographic districts and use them for designated projects, such as cleaning up and restoring downtown or helping the school district with a financial need.
The four districts consist of land surrounding downtown Edinburgh, U.S. 31, Interstate 65 and the Center Cross area, according to town officials.
This year, five businesses opened in Edinburgh, but those businesses won’t generate TIF money for the town because they are not new developments since they took over space in existing buildings. Even when new businesses don’t factor into TIF, they are a good sign for the town’s future development, Town Manger J.T. Doane said.
“We’re reaching out to potential developers and potential investors and looking at ways to grow our industry and grow our businesses in town,” Doane said. “Across the town we want to continue to see growth and develop strategies with potential investors and developers and see that growth.”
The TIF districts are set to be in place until 2043.
Using the tax money from those properties, the town intends to improve street drainage, sidewalks and curbs, road and water infrastructure, remove blight and renovate existing buildings. The estimated costs of these projects range from $5 million to $25 million per TIF district over the course of their 25-year lives, according to town officials.
For more on this story, see Wednesday’s Republic.
