At its workshop Tuesday afternoon, the Chelan City Council heard how it can use future tax revenues today to build infrastructure so development can happen. It's called TIF - “Tax Increment Financing,” and Bob Stowe of Stowe development and Strategies spoke to the council from his office in Mill Creek on why TIF is a good idea for Chelan:
The infrastructure the financing plan would pay for includes an East Chelan reservoir and booster pump station located north of Sun Crest, extending a 16-inch water main from the reservoir site to North Bradley Street, another water main extension from Bradley Street to No See Um Road, and a 12-inch water main extension from Isenhart and Edwin Roads to Isenhart Road and Pinata Drive. In total, those projects are priced at more than 18-and-a-quarter million dollars; the TIF plan would potentially fund 16 million of that. The city would designate what's called a “Tax Increment Area” which includes the Apple Blossom Center and the HiLand Farms subdivision, all with an assessed valuation of 105 million dollars. Once again, Bob Stowe:
But it's not all for development purposes, as Mayor Bob Goedde explained Wednesday on KOZI:
The council was shown three scenarios, each with different debt payback dates which ranged from 2029 to 2048. It was noted that without the TIF in place, that site was projected to support only 35 percent of the expected development. No doubt there will be more on this in the future.