SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO.com) Some people don't like it that a major Tax Incremental Financing District - TIF for short - may be used to help the Lloyd Companies build a $43 million development near Falls Parks West in Sioux Falls.
A TIF essentially uses the additional property tax revenue a development would generate to help finance the project.
Minnehaha County Commissioner Dean Karsky, a former City Councilor, says TIF's are the best tool Sioux Falls has to encourage economic development.
"Other cities and states allow tax money to be given to businesses to bring them to the community. We don't do that here." explained Karsky at a recent County Commission meeting. Both the county and the city would be on the hook for the TIF.
Commissioner Jeff Barth is not as sold as Karsky.
"I'm not necessarily opposed to TIF's but it would be nice if we could make an independent decision about whether we would forgo our share of that tax money."
The City of Sioux Falls and Lloyd Companies are working together on the $43.5 million project between Second and Third Streets near Phillips Avenue in the Uptown area. It will be a mix of commercial and residential spaces.
Many multi-million dollar projects in Sioux Falls have taken advantage of Tax Incremental Financing Districts.