It was standing room only at Chelan City Hall Thursday afternoon as the Chelan City Council held a workshop with representatives of junior taxing districts to explain the details of the tax increment financing, or TIF, proposal The taxing district's reaction could be described as the financial version of “Not In My Back Yard.”
Bob Stowe, who's the city's consultant on TIF, and his assistant Morgan Shook, gave a lengthy explanation of property tax revenues and how they relate to TIF. They discussed their updated analysis, that the TIF law passed by the state Legislature was designed to, in their words, “create no harm,” and that the junior taxing districts will receive the same amount of property tax revenue from private development with or without a Tax Implement Area. Then it was time for discussion, and it got lively with representatives of the hospital district and the city. Hospital Commissioner Jordana Laporte said her concerns revolve around the mitigation aspect the city has put into the plan should the taxing districts suffer as a result of TIF:
But City Administrator Wade Farris said the city has no mitigation plan right now:
Lake Chelan Health CEO Aaron Edwards had a pointed question:
Farris said if the city finds out that TIF won't work, a ballot issue could be considered:
When the workshop ended after two hours, it's a safe bet that no minds were changed. Now it's up to the City Council to decide whether to go forward, they'll decide that at a special council meeting Wednesday afternoon at 3. Public comment will be taken at Tuesday's regular council meeting starting at 6 pm, and at the special meeting Wednesday, but comments will be limited to three minutes a person, so be concise.
