A Portage Township official worries the township could lose money, if the city of Portage creates TIF districts for housing developments.
With tax increment financing, the increase in property tax revenue is generally set aside for improvements in that district, under the control of a redevelopment commission. That money can also be used for public safety.
But Township Board President Tiffany Gulley worries the TIF districts would mean less money for the township to spend on parks, cemeteries, the Bonner Senior Center, and help for residents struggling financially. "We cannot do referendums as the school district can do, and we cannot enact TIF districts as the city of Portage or Porter County government can do," Gulley told the Portage City Council on Tuesday. "We would never be able to increase program or facility rental fees enough to cover the amount that will be taken from us if these TIF districts are approved."
Gulley was skeptical that the TIF districts were needed to incentivize home development, and while the redevelopment commission could provide grant funding to the township and the school corporation, Gulley said there's no guarantee that would continue.
But Mayor Austin Bonta argued that the TIF districts could benefit Portage Township Schools, since a grant from the redevelopment commission would be more flexible than the property tax revenue. "For the most part, the money that's impacted in most school systems in Indiana that they might lose — or you could say they don't receive — in a residential TIF or a TIF in general is money that's limited, primarily, to capital projects and to buses, equipment such as that," Bonta said.
He said the TIFs can be done in such a way that the township government doesn't lose any money, while the city would have more flexibility to spend money on public safety. "When we face the situations that the Indiana state has put us in with how our cities and municipalities are funded, we have to be able to work together and make use of the tools that we get," Bonta added. "I would not be being a good mayor if I wasn't exploring that option."
The mayor said he's discussed the proposal with Portage Township Trustee Brendan Clancy and offered to give a presentation to the township board.
