MARQUETTE, MI— The Marquette City Commission has approved a new Tax Increment Financing (TIF) plan for the Downtown Development Authority and a revenue sharing agreement connected to it.
On Monday the commission approved TIF Plan #5, which extends the TIF capture from 2036 to 2054. The agreement provides the city with 5 percent of the DDA’s gross TIF revenues up to 2054. The City Commission is contractually obligated to revisit the agreement on a five-year basis to either unilaterally extend it under the same terms or to direct the City Manager to negotiate any pertinent modifications to the Agreement with the DDA board.
Deputy City Manager Sean Hobbins says that’s a good amount of time to see an impact on the growth of taxable value and the development of new projects.
“We’re in year four of the city manager’s term here. The Vault was started about the same time and they’re just breaking ground now, just as one example. It takes a couple years for projects to get online and show their value.”
According to the DDA, 5 percent of revenue sharing is estimated at $63,000 for the first year of the agreement. Since Prop A was adopted in Michigan in 1994, the average rate of taxable property value growth in Michigan has been 3.1 percent per year. Projecting that average over the life of the agreement and conservatively assuming no other significant growth, the total value of the agreement is estimated at $2,893,580, with an estimated share of $148,110 in the final year.
Priority projects for the DDA include improvements to Baraga and Third Streets, the enhancement of the Marquette Commons for year-round use, and parking redevelopment for multiple projects.
