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Committee Chair White followed up, Is that service delivery for the VA? <br /> Mr. Mueller replied,No, it is just the old VA Building. The VA has moved office spaces. <br /> Redevelopment Budgets <br /> Mr. Mueller stated, We have five (5)main TIF Districts in the City. He then showed a map from <br /> the presentation that depicted all the districts in the City. He continued, These districts are <br /> funded off of the returns on investments made. Any increment that is generated from the <br /> previous engagement, it generates funds. So for example, if we started spending money from TIF <br /> Districts and weren't generating any new development, we would see the receipts go down over <br /> time because the depreciation of the existing assets. Our general TIF strategy has been making <br /> investments that keep the Fund growing by having a return on investment while also making <br /> Public Infrastructure investments. The philosophy of investing in TIF Funding is a combination <br /> of projects that both return on investment and sustain the public infrastructure. Some of the <br /> longest paybacks are termed for fifteen(15) years on some development projects but a lot of <br /> them are five (5)to seven(7) years. I know a lot of residents are concerned about incentivizing <br /> certain projects, but part of the strategy for TIF is investing in future revenue that could be used <br /> for other purposes. The appropriations of TIF dollars are controlled by the Redevelopment <br /> Commission unlike all the rest of the City Funds that are appropriated by the Common Council. <br /> The State did make some changes in either 2014 or 2015 so that when bonds are issued within a <br /> TIF District they must come before the Council to be approved. So the upcoming Park Bond will <br /> come before the Council. The TIF Expenditures have a set number of things they can be used on. <br /> Generally,the best litmus test is to see whether or not that TIF-funded public improvement <br /> services the district in some fashion. We have gotten more creative and other cities have also <br /> gotten more creative over the years. One (1) example is the funding of police foot-patrols, and <br /> there is a question of whether or not that should happen. Usually you need to be investing in <br /> something and not someone, like capital projects. There are some workforce development things <br /> that could be funded but they have to be associated with a tangible project within the District. <br /> Committee Chair White asked, Could TIF Funding be used for professional services? Did we do <br /> some of that last time that was affiliated with a project? <br /> Mr. Mueller replied, We do a lot of professional services with our projects. Almost every project <br /> we do requires us to engineer it. That is a professional service associated with a physical capital <br /> project and that service is eligible to be funded by TIF. <br /> Councilmember Dr. Varner stated, You mentioned macro-economic trends as part of your <br /> concerns going forwad. What are those trends? <br /> Mr. Mueller replied, I think there are two (2)big concerns. The first is the automation of the <br /> workforce. The second is, as the Mayor puts it, being in the seventh inning of the economic <br /> growth cycle. We are aware of that and we are trying to think ahead about ways we can prepare <br /> for any of those consequences. <br /> 9 <br />