Board of Supervisors hears TIF requests

Main Street improvements, resurfacing of a stretch of the Heart of Iowa Trail and construction of a new street named after a former state senator are among the applications under consideration by the Story County Board of Supervisors for an annual tax-increment financing program.

At its Aug. 12 meeting, the board began hearing requests for financing through the 2014 Urban Renewal Area program, which is used to assist various infrastructure improvement and expansion projects, public land and trail improvements and Main Street revitalization work.

Nine communities in the county have applied this year for assistance ranging from $10,000 (for a Main Street revitalization project in Collins) to $1.2 million (for Main Street improvements in Slater).

TIF funding is a subsidy intended to finance projects whose tax revenues will eventually cover its costs.

Supervisors continued hearing the TIF requests at their Tuesday meeting and will wrap them up next week before scheduling public hearings on the recommended proposals.

On Tuesday, they heard requests from the cities of Huxley, Kelley, Maxwell and Story City.

Mark Jackson, city administrator for Story City, requested the maximum 75 percent in TIF funding to help cover the costs of a project, initially estimated to cost more than $900,000, to build a street named after former state Sen. Rich Olive, a Democrat, who also spoke to the board on Tuesday.

The street would be built in Story Citys Interstate 35 Business Park and its construction would include utility extensions.

After Supervisor Rick Sanders questioned whether it would be appropriate for the county to cover more than $675,000 of the projects costs through TIF funding, Jackson agreed to revise the funding request to at least $83,500. The projects total cost was revised to $835,000.

Huxley is asking for $16,000 to help it resurface a mile-long stretch of the Heart of Iowa Trail between U.S. Highway 69 and Trailridge Park, a project it estimates will cost about $280,000.

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Board of Supervisors hears TIF requests