Tax increment finance district (TIF) planned for Logan County

In Logan County, the Board of County Commissioners are taking the first steps to create a TIF District. This could be a tool that can help in meeting new development infrastructure needs. A TIF has a few moving parts.

The first is that the Board of County Commissioners forms a Review Committee.This committee is made up of a representative of all taxing entities, with the BOCC representative acting as chairman. In the case of the current proposal, the entities would be Logan County, Guthrie Schools, Guthrie EMS District, the Health Department and the Meridian Technology School District. Additional members are three members representing the public at large, selected by the other committee members from a list of seven names submitted by the chairperson of the review committee. After a plan is adopted and recommended by the Review Committee, it is sent back to the BOCC for approval. Following this, the county assessor completes an assessment of the proposed area which becomes the baseline taxing level. After public improvements are completed, the property is assessed like every other property in the county. The increase in the amount of revenue would go to pay off the improvement, instead of going to the various taxable entities.

One myth is that property in the zone isn’t taxed like the rest of us.That is incorrect. Those properties will be taxed at the same rate , but the increase in taxes from the improvement would be used to pay for the infrastructure improvements. This should result in additional revenue if it is a good plan. For example, a few years ago an addition was constructed in South Logan County around Bryant and Simmons. The roads were in terrible condition. If all the property in that new growth area would have been in a TIF, the increase in taxes from a vacant piece of land to a $300,000.00 home would have naturally increased. The increase, or a percentage of it, could have paid for the roads or other public facilities needing improvement in the area.

As we work our way through this first attempt to form a TIF, I hope we can learn from it and make it a tool for the future in all parts of the county. Here is a link to a better explanation than I can give in a weekly update.