Cory points out something I have known about Lloyd Companies for a long time, they don’t need TIF’s to develop, but hey if they CAN get them, they will use them;
But when we look at the big picture, TIF is a free ride. Go east on Eighth Street two blocks. You find apartment buildings there. I don’t know who built them or when, but the developer of those buildings didn’t get a TIF district to help make those apartments happen. That developer managed to cover his own construction bills and still pay regular taxes to support the city, school district, and county. TIF removes half of that burden from new developers, giving them an unfair advantage as they enter a tight Madison housing marketplace that ought to be drawing hordes of builders and buildings without taxpayer help.
I also find it interesting that Lloyd Companies tried to keep this a secret from the public;
Funny thing was, neither that resolution nor that night’s agenda packet nor any other online document I could find told us where that TIF district would be, or who was asking for it, or what they were going to do with it. Also funny was that the Lake County Commission hadn’t taken any formal action on any proposal to create a TIF district.
A little digging revealed that the proposal for TIF district #2 comes from Lloyd Companies in Sioux Falls. Lloyd prefers that their proposal not circulate until they finalize it.
As Lloyd said on the ‘100 Eyes’ show the other day, (SIC) “A TIF is when we (Lloyd co.) get a percentage of our property tax payment refunded to us, then we use that refund to pay off our bank loan that funded the project.” Can you imagine if you could put 80% of your property taxes paid each year towards your mortgage? For the next 10-14 years? But Lloyd doesn’t think it is a handout? LOL.