Tax Increment Financing District Boards Hold Annual Sessions

The joint review boards for the four Tax Increment Financing Districts that touch the city of Effingham reviewed projects undertaken over the past year during their annual meetings.

A joint review board is a part of the makeup of each TIF district according to Illinois law. Board members represent each taxing body that is a part of the TIF district. The joint review boards oversee the TIF districts’ operation since a portion of the TIF revenue would otherwise go to those taxing bodies.

The City has been working to link the boundaries of their Central Area TIF District and their South-Central Industrial TIF District, allowing for the transfer of funds between districts for various projects. 

The City also hopes to gain state legislative approval of 12-year extensions in the life of those two TIF districts to complete pending projects in those districts. The Outer Belt West TIF District is expected to be allowed to expire since the roadway the district was designed to help finance has been completed. The TIF #1 District will also be expiring since its life was already extended and is nearing the end of its 35-year life.

The joint review board for the South-Central Industrial TIF District also approved planned expansions of the district along the northern edge of the City Business Park to include the Effingham High School campus. The City and Unit 40 have had an agreement in place since the first TIF districts were formed in the 1980s where the City contributes toward vocational education projects by the school district. Adding that territory will allow that agreement to continue.

The South-Central Industrial TIF District is also being expanded along South 4th Street to allow for infrastructure improvements in the impacted area, especially drainage improvements.

The Joint Review Boards also elected officers for the next year. County Board Chairman Jim Niemann was chosen chairman and Lake Land College trustee Doris Reynolds was chosen vice-chairman of the South-Central Industrial TIF District. Effingham Park Board Commissioner Russ Sehy will chair the TIF#1 Joint Review Board with Unit 40 Superintendent Mark Doan as vice-chairman. Reynolds will chair the Central Area TIF District with Douglas Township Trustee Nick Althoff as vice-chairman. Niemann will chair the Outer Belt West TIF District with public member Mike Defend of Crossroads Bank as vice-chairman.