St. Sen. Sue Rezin has introduced a resolution to extend the life of Ottawa’s downtown tax increment financing district by 12 years. City Economic Development Director Dave Noble says the downtown area looks much better now than it did when the TIF started in 1999. That’s why the city wants to extend it to 2034. Businesses that already benefit from TIF agreements aren’t being automatically extended though.
Noble says besides helping businesses pay for repairing their facades and making other improvements, TIF money paid for downtown lighting and landscaping. And he says going forward, school districts will get all the money they should from property taxes on downtown property improved during the TIF’s first 23 years.