Retirement of TIF district caps village success story

Four years earlier than expected, the Village of Saukville has retired the tax incremental financing district that funded development of the industrial park and increased the taxable value of the property there by more than $14 million.

Tax Increment District (TID) No. 2 encompassed the village industrial park south of Cold Springs Road and adjacent to the Dekora Woods Business Park.

The district was created in 2001, when the undeveloped property had a base value of $350,000. The district was retired earlier this month with a total value, or increment, of $14.459 million at the end of 2019, according to the district’s annual report.

The values are annually certified by the State of Wisconsin.

Tax increment districts allow municipalities to divert property tax revenue for a period of time to pay for infrastructure improvements, such as roads and sewers, and encourage economic development in the hope that the property will increase in value and add to the municipal general fund when the district is retired.

The latest allowable termination date for TID No. 2 was June 19, 2024, according to its creation agreement. 

According to the annual report, infrastructure costs totaled more than $1.375 million while tax revenues used to pay for improvements during the life of the district totaled nearly $1.536 million.