Wichita has approved a new tax district that will provide between $6 million and $7.8 million to help two prominent Wichita businessmen redevelop a heavily polluted former oil refinery site. The money from the city will help finance a 1 million-square-foot complex of warehouse, manufacturing, office, and retail space at the 115-acre site of the abandoned refinery.

A total of $8.5 million in property tax revenue from four tax incremental (TIF) districts would be allocated to fund traffic calming and safety improvements including protected bike lanes, curb bump-outs, narrower travel lanes, high-impact paving, and new pedestrian infrastructure.

The village of Thiensville took a step forward with its plans for the Thiensville Crossing tax incremental district. Contractors removed four underground fuel tanks from the former Mobil gas station. Thiensville Crossing, the village's new development district, is comprised of 15 acres. It will include new retail spaces, multifamily housing, public amenities and green space.

A new $11.4 million, 36-unit apartment complex known as Old Town Flats will be built on the site with the possibility of a second identical building going up if demand is strong. The council unanimously approved the developer's application for $1.7 million in tax increment finance funding from the Downtown TIF District.

Proposed adjustments to "microTIF" property tax incentive program should help more people and towns make use of it. Legislative Bill 1065 would extend the program to long-existing vacant lots, specifically limit microTIF to older neighborhoods and raise its maximum target valuations for homes or business buildings rehabilitated or replaced for the incentives.

The state's STAR Bond Act allows the use of incremental sales tax revenues – the difference between predevelopment base sales taxes and the increase in sales taxes following new construction/redevelopment – from a specified district to fund STAR bond projects. Available taxes to help in that funding are the state sales tax, local sales tax, and transient guest tax.

The county tentatively committed to an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District (EIFD) to fund infrastructure upgrades in the Howard Terminal area. In the nonbinding vote, the county approved the district. The EIFD would benefit all businesses in the general area, not just the new A's ballpark, but the new development would be the biggest beneficiary of the fund.

In a time of economic turmoil and uncertainty, Palmdale, situated in northern Los Angeles County in the heart of the Antelope Valley region, is a city poised for growth with a key asset that is often scarce in population-dense regions. Palmdale is utilizing the EIFD development tool. The goals of the district, laid out in its Infrastructure Financing Plan, include adding additional housing units and improving job opportunities.

CDFA Federal Financing Webinar Series: Capacity Building Programs from EDA and NIST
Tuesday, March 1, 2022 - 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM Eastern

CDFA // BNY Mellon Development Finance Webcast Series: Capitalization Strategies & Funding from the American Rescue Plan
Tuesday, March 15, 2022 - 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM Eastern

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