By Randall Dullum and Ryan Whisner
The Fort Atkinson City Council on Tuesday approved establishing the boundaries of and project plans for new Tax Incremental Districts (TIDs) Nos. 9 and 10, both located on the city’s north side.
Council members voted unanimously, in separate resolutions, to take that action upon staff recommendation.
The two TIDs are intended to assist and encourage development within the city. A detailed summary of the plans is available on the city’s website: https://www.fortatkinsonwi.gov.
Last month, the Fort Atkinson Plan Commission advanced creating the two new TIDs for the city. Commissioners also approved project plans and district boundaries for TIDs 9 and 10.
Each project plan document provides justification for creation of the TID, along with parcel lists, project lists, maps and other statutory requirements, and additional information on the purpose and description of the districts proposed, and the timeline for approval and implementation.
City Manager Rebecca Houseman LeMire said Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) “is the single most valuable tool for municipalities to support new development and redevelopment.”
Tax incremental financing is an economic tool or program used by a municipality to encourage future development and expand its tax base. Ultimately, the goal of the concept is to attract value within that Tax Incremental District that would not occur had the TID not been created.
Property value is frozen in a TID. Tax revenue from any increase in value, called an “increment,” may be used to promote development. A municipality can spend or lend money for several purposes, including infrastructure, park improvements, bike paths, parking and direct financing for a development. When the TID closes, typically 20 to 30 years after being created, the incremental value is paid to the respective taxing entities.
“Over the last several months, the city of Fort Atkinson has made efforts to create two new Tax Increment Districts in order to encourage and support new development and redevelopment in certain areas of the city,” LeMire said.
The city currently has three “active” TIDs, numbers 6, 7 and 8, she said, noting that staff are planning to add the two additional districts late this year.
TID 6 is the Robert L. Klement Business Park on the city’s south side. Created in 2000, LeMire said the expenditure period for the district has closed and it has been considered distressed for some time due to lack of development.
TID 7 is a downtown blight elimination district, and TID 8 is a mixed-use district that served the city’s northwest corridor development. Both TIDs 7 and 8 donate funds to pay off the debt related to TID 6.
LeMire said the state allows successful TIDs within the same community to donate increment created in that TID to the other distressed TID to assist in paying down the debt.
Working with Baird, one of the city’s financial consultants, the target closure date for all three current TIDs is between 2025 and 2026. With the closure and subsequent creation of new TIDs, the anticipation is a minimal impact on the tax levy.
TID No. 9 is being created as a “mixed-use district,” the city manager said, noting “it is located on the northwest side of the city and will overlay certain sections of TID No. 8.”
The mixed-use district partially is an overlay of the existing TID 8, which means it includes some of the parcels that were included in TID 8 that either are underdeveloped or undeveloped in the city’s northwest corridor.
“The effect of that is when this new TID is created, the current value of the parcel stays with TID 8 and any new value comes to TID 9,” LeMire explained at last month’s council meeting. “This one, we are looking specifically to assist and support Banker Road development as well as infrastructure needed to get to the other side of the State Highway 26 bypass.”
TID 9, she said, would encompass an area along the northwest corridor of the community to allow the city to support the Banker Road development.
TID No. 10, being created as a “Blight District,” is intended to include multiple blighted properties in the northeast portion of the city, with hopes of spurring development on certain sites. TID 10, more specifically, will assist business properties in the Blackhawk Drive/Edward Street area, and areas both east and west of Ralph Park.
“With the creation of these new TIDs, staff anticipates using the project plans as guides to prioritize public infrastructure improvements necessary to support future development and redevelopment in these areas,” LeMire indicated.
TID 9 includes the Banker Road development, Crown of Life Christian Academy and Fort Atkinson High School properties, and extends beyond the Highway 26 bypass with the recently annexed parcel currently owned by Fort HealthCare. The church and school-related properties are included to meet the state land area requirements.
LeMire noted that, per law, municipalities only can have 35% of a mixed-use TID for newly planned single-family residential development.
“We needed to make the whole TID a little bit bigger so that we could support the Banker Road development,” she said last month.
There are 21 parcels totaling 267 acres, with a base value of $22.8 million, LeMire noted. According to the plan, the city is proposing approximately $22 million in potential projects.
Under TID law, the city can spend money on infrastructure projects within one-half-mile of the boundary of the TID, which means additional sidewalk installation or other projects are able to proceed.
Projects mentioned in the TID 9 plan document include an overpass of the Highway 26 bypass at Montclair Place, extension of city water and sanitary sewer along Madison Avenue, Banker Road development pressure zone, a new water tower, improvements at the Banker Road and Madison Avenue intersection, bike and pedestrian path extensions, road and utility installation land purchases and park improvements.
“Now those projects are estimates,” LeMire stated previously. “We did write this (plan) with the intention of having flexibility in projects that we choose to pursue based on the development that’s proposed. I think it’s important to know that we’re not building anything (until) they come. We will be building things based on a development that is relatively certain.”
TID 10 has been identified as a blight elimination district on the northeast side of the city. All property owners have been notified of the area being identified, for the most part, as a blight elimination district.
The district does not include the Fort Atkinson hospital campus but does include some of its outlying facilities, which could be part of their future expansion to remain in the current location.
In addition, it includes the former Thomas Industries building, owned by DB Oak Limited Partnership, which was damaged in a major fire in August 2021. The owner has expressed interest in rebuilding the portion of the building that was destroyed.
The district also will include the former Loeb-Lorman scrapyard site, which is owned by the city, and the former W.D. Hoard and Sons printing facility which is slated to be redeveloped into the new Badgerland After-School Enrichment (BASE) program headquarters.
Combined, there are 33 parcels for a total of 120 acres with a $22 million value and a total of $13.3 million in projects planned.
Remediation at the Lorman site, bike and pedestrian infrastructure, a city entrance feature at High Street, Klement Park improvements, road and utility installation, and general infrastructure and park improvements are on the project list.
During brief discussion Tuesday night, the city manager said staff started working on the project plans in May with the city’s financial advisors at Baird Public Finance.
“Mapping was completed in August,” LeMire said. “Justin Fischer, also with Baird, held a Tax Increment Financing 101 workshop with the council on Sept. 6th. Staff also presented the proposed TID No. 9 and No. 10 boundaries and project plans to the council at that workshop.”
All required notices were mailed to property owners on Sept. 6, she said, adding that public notices were published and posted in accordance with state statutes.
The Joint Review Board met Sept. 26 for its annual review of the city’s existing TIDs, she said, noting that staff also presented the project plans and boundaries for TIDs 9 and 10 at that meeting.
“The plan commission met on Sept. 27th and held a public hearing about the creation of the TIDs and the project plans,” LeMire said. “One property owner in TID No. 10 requested that the property he owns be removed from the TID boundary.
“However, staff indicated that the parcel was needed for contiguity to several parcels to the north that actually already have new private investment that we (city) have approved moving forward which will add increment to this TID quickly,” she added.
Council member Megan Hartwick on Tuesday sought clarification on the concern of the property owner — Curtis Abendroth, 1000 N. Main St. — who had requested his property be removed from the district and project plan. She also asked what the potential benefits or detriments would be to individual homeowners that would be located within a TID.
“There’s not a down side to being included in a tax increment district,” LeMire responded. “This particular property owner owns a large piece of land that has some conservancy district over it; so, if there are floodplains or wetlands or things like that, then it wouldn’t be able to be developed anyway in the future.
“However, this is one of those things where we play the long game — it doesn’t hurt anything to include the parcel,” she continued. “We included the parcel because there is potential in the future for some sort of development, some sort of public infrastructure that might improve the value of the land or might improve the value of the area in so much that would encourage additional development and redevelopment in the future.
“And being in a Tax Increment District does not adversely impact property values or any other ownership of a parcel,” LeMire emphasized.
The plan commission Sept. 27 took formal action to recommend that the city council approve the project plans and boundaries for TIDs No. 9 and No. 10.
Now, with the council having adopted the recommended TID project plans and boundaries resolutions, the Joint Review Board will meet Nov. 1 to complete final approval of the new districts, the city manager informed.
Following that, staff will file final paperwork with the Wisconsin Department of Revenue.
“Any future public projects, development agreements and any other items associated with Tax Incremental Financing will come back through the city council for action,” LeMire said. “Additionally, staff will continue to report on the status of the TIDs annually to the Joint Review Board — which, if you recall, has representatives from each of our taxing jurisdictions–at their annual meeting, and to the city council during the annual budget cycle and any other time an update is requested or desired by the council.”
Other business
Meanwhile, in other business, the council:
• Approved the Friends of Haumerson’s Pond Haunted Hike for Friday, Oct. 28, from 6 to 9 p.m., and Saturday, Oct. 29, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Haumerson’s Pond, off of Zida Street.
• Approved the Fort Atkinson Animated Holiday Light Display from Nov. 5 through Jan. 7. This outdoor lights display will be at the Janesville Avenue bike path in front of Jones Dairy Farm heading north.
This event, open to the community, is expected to attract 5,000 or more attendees.
• Approved the 26th annual Fort Atkinson Chamber of Commerce Lighted Holiday Parade for Saturday, Nov. 12, and various street closures.
Street closures will begin at 4 p.m. and end approximately 15 minutes following the parade. The downtown parade will begin at 5:30 p.m. and is expected to attract 1,000-plus spectators.
In a memo, Parade Chairperson Cori Bleecker said the parade will be strictly limited to 60 entries to minimize street closure times. Parade entries will assemble in the Fort Atkinson Middle School and St. Paul’s Lutheran Church parking lot located on South 4th Street East and Bluff Street.
Parade entries will exit onto Milwaukee Avenue East from Bluff and High streets; proceed west to Main Street, north on Main Street, and then west onto Madison Avenue.
It is intended that all motorized or animal-drawn floats will continue on to Madison Avenue to Robert Street and return to the starting point, and that all walking entries will return near the bike trail entrance.
• Approved the Klondike Derby for the Boy Scouts of America-Glaciers EDGE Council Yahara District for its event at Haumerson’s Pond, 550 S. Fourth St., on Saturday, Jan. 21, from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. An estimated 300 attendees are expected.
According to organizers, a Klondike Derby is a Scout outdoor event that starts with a Klondike sled that has been engineered and built by the Scouts. On this sled that the Scouts pull behind them are all of the supplies they might need for being outdoors in January as well as six different Scout Skills competitions that they will rotate through during the event.
There typically are six Scout Skills competitions such as a First Aid scenario, three-person sling shot launch, fire building, cooking, knots, animal track ID and compass work.
Following a cooked lunch, a sled race of about a mile will take place. Afterward, an awards ceremony will be held.
The events differ from year to year, but all competition activities adhere to the Guide to Safe Scouting. Fires are built in steel pans and immediately are extinguished after the task has been completed.
The three-person slingshot usually launches snowballs, or potatoes in years where there is no snow.
This event is planned, organized and run by volunteer leaders of the BSA Glacier’s Edge Council.
• Adopted a resolution requesting exemption from the county library tax and directed City Clerk Michelle Ebbert to provide copies to the county clerk and Jefferson County Library Council administrator.
The Jefferson County Board of Supervisors has established a county library service and levies a county library tax.
State statutes provide that a municipality is exempt from this county library tax if the municipality levies a minimum amount for public library services. Annually in September the county calculates the minimum levy for municipalities to qualify for this exemption.
In September, Fort Atkinson received a letter from the Jefferson County Finance Department reminding the city of the minimum appropriation to the Dwight Foster Public Library in order to be exempt from paying the county library tax. Per statutory calculation, the city is required to appropriate at least $330,528 to the Dwight Foster Library to be exempt from the tax.
As presented to the city council during the budget workshop Oct. 11, the city is proposing to levy $616,511 in property taxes to fund library operations in 2023. This amount exceeds the minimum appropriation for exemption from the county library tax.
• Approved the Jones Park Concession Stand lease agreement between the City of Fort Atkinson and the Fort Atkinson Generals Baseball Team, Inc.
According to Brooke Franseen, director of Parks and Recreation, to protect the significant investment that the Fort Atkinson Generals Baseball Team, Inc. has made in Jones Park over the years, the Generals organization is seeking to be the designated lease holder, or tenant, of the concession stand at Jones Park.
The city is the owner, or landlord, of the facility but not owners of the equipment. The majority of items that can be removed from the concession stand have been purchased or built by the Generals organization.
Over the last 18 years, Franseen said the Generals have donated more than $118,000 specifically to be used toward Jones Park improvements.
The Generals host between 15 and 20 games, and also open the concession stand for the youth teams that host games and tournaments.
The Generals also open the concession stand for special events that include Cruise Nights, Baseball Fest, Trunk or Treat and newly added Adult Recess.
The lease will require the Generals to pay an annual lease fee of $100 to the City of Fort Atkinson.
The city will be responsible for coordinating use of the facility by third-party events. At this time, she said, there is no fee for the Generals to open the stand for third-party events, but it also is at the Generals’ discretion to open.
In the case of a third-party event, the Generals will have at least one board member present at Jones Park for the entirety of the stand being open.
The city currently has concession stand lease agreements with the Fort Atkinson Lions Club at Ralph Park and Fort Youth Baseball at Memorial Park.
The lease agreement will result in an annual general revenue for the city of $100.
Additionally, the Generals organization typically donates to projects or funds that support Jones Park, which staff expects will continue in the future.
Staff currently are developing per game or per day fees associated with use of the city’s athletic facilities to assist in recouping the costs to maintain and improve these facilities. The Generals will be subject to pay those fees once established.
Fort Atkinson Municipal Building, file photo/Kim McDarison.
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