Welcome to Hastings Mural, (Dallas Nau, Central Nebraska Today)
HASTINGS — The Hastings City Council received an presentation about Micro-Tax Increment Financing during their meeting on Monday, Feb. 24.
Tax increment financing (TIF) in Nebraska is primarily designed to finance the public costs associated with a private development project. Essentially, the property tax increases resulting from a development are targeted to repay the public investment required by a project.
Under Nebraska law, local governments may use TIF only in redeveloping substandard and blighted areas within a community. Following such designation, a community redevelopment agency prepares a redevelopment plan. TIF projects may be commercial, residential, industrial, or mixed use.
Chad Bunger, City of Hastings Development Services Director, said Micro-Tax Increment Financing, (Micro-TIF) is an expedited review of redevelopment plans for TIF for smaller projects.
Micro-TIF was a process recently approved by the Nebraska Legislature.
The benefits of Micro-TIF are that it allows for smaller redevelopment projects, provides a means to repair, rehabilitate or replace old structures and help increase the value of properties.
It also is a shorter time frame than traditional TIF projects, there are less technical application requirements fewer approval procedures.
Bunger said Micro-TIF encourages upkeep in substandard and blighted areas.
Speaking on eligible projects in Hastings, Bunger said projects must be located in substandard and blighted areas and must have been within the city limits for 60 years.
When the project is completed, it must be estimated to be no more than $350,000 for a single family residential, $1,500,000 multi-family residential or commercial and $10,000,000 for a National Register of Historic Places location.
Bunger said this process could benefit smaller projects, such as a couple expecting a new child and might need more space for their growing family, or to improve a commercial structure, or add a structure to a vacant lot, or adapting a house for an elderly person to “age in place.”
The Micro-TIF process is as follows, discuss with development services, discuss with county appraisers, apply to development services, review by city and CRA staff, city council review and approval and CRA approves the TIF note.
It was noted that Micro-TIF is not to be use for the maintenance of a building or property, used for cosmetic improvements of a building or property, a financial tool that will pay for the entire cost of construction or a way to defer or avoid paying taxes.
