- Neenah closed two TIF districts: The Downtown Business District and SouthPark Industrial Center.
- These TIF districts raised $800,000 for affordable housing in the city.
- The city celebrated this rare milestone at Plexus, located in TIF district 6.
(The following is a transcription of the full broadcast story)
I’m reporter Olivia Acree in Neenah where the city announced the closure of two of their TIF districts. The Downtown Business District and SouthPark Industrial Center, or Districts 5 and 6, are finally paid off and the city is celebrating. I’ll explain what a TIF district is and why it’s a cause for celebration.
A tax incremental financing district, or TIF, is an area in which a community has invested money to increase property value. Then the city takes the property taxes from the TIF districts to pay for the work. And now, Neenah has paid off districts 5 and 6.
“It means we have achieved economic growth,” said Haese.
Chris Haese is the community development director.
“We were successful in attracting additional property tax growth to the city. We were able to attract additional jobs and more recently extend the life of the TIF districts one year and utilize all that revenue for affordable housing,” said Haese.
The city now has more than $800,000 for affordable housing.
This celebration is one that doesn't happen too often.
“The last district we would’ve closed was TIF 4 and I believe that was in the early 1990s. TIF 5 was created in 1993 and TIF 6 was created in 1997,” said Haese.
The Downtown Business District has become home to many new businesses during the last 30 years.
“Significant projects in TIF 5 are one Neenah center two Neenah center and three Neenah centers,” said Haese.
One of the biggest additions to the SouthPark Industrial Center was Plexus, which is where the city gathered to celebrate.
“To be able to partner up with the city and be able to meet our needs as we’ve continued to grow globally has been really important,” said Todd Kelsey, Plexus CEO.
With TIF districts 5 and 6, the city met its economic goals and exceeded them with the addition of affordable housing dollars. Now property tax money from those districts will go to the school district, Fox Valley Tech, the city, and the county.
