By Tere Dunlap
tdunlap@themonroetimes.com
MONROE - Cathy Maurer, Monroe city treasurer, hopes Monroe's five Tax Increment Districts (TIDs) have enough surplus funds so the city doesn't have to add the excess debt payments to the taxes it collects next year.
Decreases in TID equalized property values this year mean the city will have to dip into the districts' fund balances to help pay the TIDs loan interest and principals.
The total net decrease in TID values for 2010 is about $6 million, according to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. The DOR certifies TID values and increments by Aug. 15 each year.
In 2009, the five districts generated a total of $1,134,144 in extra tax revenue, according to Maurer.
Maurer said the lower property values will have an impact on the revenue created, but how much less tax revenue the TIDs will raise this year will not be known until the city and other taxing jurisdictions set their tax rates in November.
"We're not sure yet, but I think we're OK. The only one we are concerned about is TID 7," she said.
Maurer does not know yet how much the TID No. 7 tax revenue shortfall will be, and whether its surplus funds are enough to help cover the loan payment this year.
Tax Increment District No. 7, about 25 blocks in Monroe's downtown Square area, created $128,400 in extra tax revenue in 2009, but it needs $275,000 to make its loan payment. Its equalized value has now dropped by $22,900.
District No. 7 lost the least amount of property value of Monroe's five TIDs, less than 1 percent. The district was set up in 2005 and is scheduled to dissolve in 2027.
Municipalities set up tax increment districts to finance economic development projects within the district, according to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue and Legislative Reference Bureau. Development projects, such as installing streets and sewers, are expected to increase property values, and thus, increase tax revenues.
Once a TID is established, any additional property taxes collected in the district are used to repay the municipality for the costs of the development.
Maurer said the Monroe TIDs have no more infrastructure development costs and now have only debt service (interest and principal) to pay off.
Once development costs and loans are repaid, the TID is dissolved, and property taxes are once again dispersed among the municipality and other taxing jurisdictions in the conventional way. A TID must terminate after a certain number of years even if it has not fully repaid the municipality's costs.
District No. 5 and TID No. 6, both located on the city's far west side, lost almost $3 million each, down 12 and 13 percent, respectively, in 2009. District No. 8 is the only district that had an increase in value, increasing $23,000, about 1 percent. The TID lies along Mansion Drive and turns north along 18th Avenue to Wisconsin 11/81.
The equalized values were calculated using property value assessments from November 2009 and adjusted for economic change, new construction and other adjustments or corrections, according to the revenue department's website.Economic change was the greatest factor for the decreases in Monroe, and most TIDs across the state had decreased values, according to Maurer.
But the DOR also altered the formula it used to determine equalized values and now includes less added value, she said. Added values include changes in exempt status, annexation gains or losses, and demolition or improvements of buildings.
"Equalized values are (now) closer to assessments values than in the past," Maurer said.
In other Green County communities, TID equalized property value changes for 2010 range from a 41 percent increase in Albany to a decrease of 9 percent in Brodhead. Monroe's TID No. 6 had the greatest rate decrease in Green County.
tdunlap@themonroetimes.com
MONROE - Cathy Maurer, Monroe city treasurer, hopes Monroe's five Tax Increment Districts (TIDs) have enough surplus funds so the city doesn't have to add the excess debt payments to the taxes it collects next year.
Decreases in TID equalized property values this year mean the city will have to dip into the districts' fund balances to help pay the TIDs loan interest and principals.
The total net decrease in TID values for 2010 is about $6 million, according to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. The DOR certifies TID values and increments by Aug. 15 each year.
In 2009, the five districts generated a total of $1,134,144 in extra tax revenue, according to Maurer.
Maurer said the lower property values will have an impact on the revenue created, but how much less tax revenue the TIDs will raise this year will not be known until the city and other taxing jurisdictions set their tax rates in November.
"We're not sure yet, but I think we're OK. The only one we are concerned about is TID 7," she said.
Maurer does not know yet how much the TID No. 7 tax revenue shortfall will be, and whether its surplus funds are enough to help cover the loan payment this year.
Tax Increment District No. 7, about 25 blocks in Monroe's downtown Square area, created $128,400 in extra tax revenue in 2009, but it needs $275,000 to make its loan payment. Its equalized value has now dropped by $22,900.
District No. 7 lost the least amount of property value of Monroe's five TIDs, less than 1 percent. The district was set up in 2005 and is scheduled to dissolve in 2027.
Municipalities set up tax increment districts to finance economic development projects within the district, according to the Wisconsin Department of Revenue and Legislative Reference Bureau. Development projects, such as installing streets and sewers, are expected to increase property values, and thus, increase tax revenues.
Once a TID is established, any additional property taxes collected in the district are used to repay the municipality for the costs of the development.
Maurer said the Monroe TIDs have no more infrastructure development costs and now have only debt service (interest and principal) to pay off.
Once development costs and loans are repaid, the TID is dissolved, and property taxes are once again dispersed among the municipality and other taxing jurisdictions in the conventional way. A TID must terminate after a certain number of years even if it has not fully repaid the municipality's costs.
District No. 5 and TID No. 6, both located on the city's far west side, lost almost $3 million each, down 12 and 13 percent, respectively, in 2009. District No. 8 is the only district that had an increase in value, increasing $23,000, about 1 percent. The TID lies along Mansion Drive and turns north along 18th Avenue to Wisconsin 11/81.
The equalized values were calculated using property value assessments from November 2009 and adjusted for economic change, new construction and other adjustments or corrections, according to the revenue department's website.Economic change was the greatest factor for the decreases in Monroe, and most TIDs across the state had decreased values, according to Maurer.
But the DOR also altered the formula it used to determine equalized values and now includes less added value, she said. Added values include changes in exempt status, annexation gains or losses, and demolition or improvements of buildings.
"Equalized values are (now) closer to assessments values than in the past," Maurer said.
In other Green County communities, TID equalized property value changes for 2010 range from a 41 percent increase in Albany to a decrease of 9 percent in Brodhead. Monroe's TID No. 6 had the greatest rate decrease in Green County.