Please follow along. Not the sexiest reading, but important.

Here’s an excerpt from the Green Bay Press Gazette:

What is a TID? A Tax Incremental District (TID) is the land area associated with development and redevelopment projects.

What is a TIF? Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) is how a city or village funds improvements and redevelopment projects. This tax money can only be used within the TID for planned improvements.

How does a TIF work? What the land was worth before the TID is considered the tax base. What the land is worth, above the base, after the property is improved, is the increment.

Those taxes that were being paid to the taxing entities (school district, county, etc.) before the TID, will continue to be paid at the current rate. The TID gets to use the extra tax money from the new, higher assessed value to afford improvements (roads, sewer, streets, etc.) made to the property.

For example, if a $100,000 property goes through a TID and becomes worth $1 million, the taxing entity would be paid as if it was still valued at $100,000. The leftover tax is used for paying off improvements.

On Monday night the Franklin Common Council will take action on a proposed resolution terminating Tax Incremental Finance District #4 and to authorize staff to proceed with the final closure steps.

Here’s important background:

On June 21, 2005, the Council approved a Resolution and Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) Project Plan for a new Tax Incremental District (TIO) identified as TID #4.

In 2018, the Council approved additional project costs for infrastructure to support the new corporate park to the west of S. 27th Street. With the upcoming April 18, 2023, deadline to notify the Wisconsin Department of Revenue (DOR) of a termination for the current year, staff is submitting this request to close this TID in 2023.

All of the projects included in the project plan for TID #4 have been completed, and TID #4 has generated enough tax increment to pay off all of its obligations. There is no remaining debt.

Thanks to TID #4 the taxing entities (this year) are getting a half million dollars and the city is getting approximately $133k of that. That’s a potential fire fighter or police officer, and it’s happening because of a TID/TIF.

BOTTOM LINE: More than $500,000 in NEW CASH with NO impact on current taxpayers.

This will be the site of Saputo Cheese. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

The council voted (January 2022) to grant a special use permit for the 310,000-square-foot building, Mayor Steve Olson said.

The $85 million cheese production, packaging and distribution facility will be developed on a 34.5-acre parcel south of West Oakwood Road and west of South 27th Street.

Saputo Cheese USA is a subsidiary of global dairy processor Saputo Inc., based in Montreal, Canada.

Along with the office workers, the Franklin building’s employees will be slicing, grating and packaging cheese made at other Saputo facilities before it’s distributed to retailers and other wholesale customers.The plans call for around 50 office workers and up to 600 production workers. It is to begin operating in 2023.

Steve Olson was there for the start of this project through today. He deserves your vote Tuesday, April 4.