said hiring an outside firm to do a TIF feasibility the study would better prepare the city for a legal challenge should there be one. (WJBC file photo)
By Eric Stock
BLOOMINGTON – A St. Louis-based consulting firm will be helping Bloomington determine whether a shopping center qualifies as a tax-increment financing district.
The owner of the Colonial Plaza Shopping Center, where the former K-Mart and Circuit City stand, wants to renovate the property and a TIF district could pay for that redevelopment by freezing property taxes in that area. Peckman, Guyton, Albers and Viets will have to determine whether the area is blighted.
PODCAST: Listen to Scott and Colleen’s interview with Hales on WJBC.
City manager David Hales told WJBC’s Scott Laughlin the city will recoup its $36,000 cost once a new business locates there.
“Once they begin to see their equalized assessed valuation going up it is that new increment that is going to pay for the cost of this study,” Hales said.
Hales added hiring an outside firm to do the study would better prepare the city for a legal challenge should there be done.
“There’s a lot more challenges of TIFs and agreements like this especially in the last decade,” Hales said.
Dick’s Sporting Goods is eyeing the site because it’s seeking to build a larger store than the one it has in Normal.
Eric Stock can be reached at [email protected].
