The Homewood Village board officially terminated the 23-year-old Southgate tax increment financing (TIF) district at the Dec. 10 meeting. The TIF was established in 2000 and officially expired in December 2023.
TIF districts are designated areas where a portion of the property taxes are used to fund projects to support growth for the community. TIF helps restore underdeveloped areas without using general municipal funds or raising taxes, Director of Finance Amy Zukowski said.
Homewood now has seven active TIF districts.
the businesses that benefited from the Southgate TIF District,
which was officially closed Dec. 10 after its 23-year run.
(Chronicle file photo)
The Southgate TIF was designated for the area around 187th Street and Dixie Highway. TIF monies have helped with many improvements over the 23 years for infrastructure and streets. The TIF also helped underwrite improvements for several businesses, including Maple Tree Inn, Cilantro, EMA Building Corporation, and other businesses located at 18825-18831 Dixie Highway, Zukowski said.
Now that the Southgate TIF is no longer active, some questions have been raised by residents. One resident expressed concern on whether the TIF expiring will mean increased taxes for the community.
“It’s really not a raise in the taxes. Instead of (the taxes) going into the TIF, it’s just going to the (village’s) general fund,” Christopher Cummings, village attorney, said.
A resident also inquired, “How does a TIF district expiring allow you to raise more?”
In response, Zukowski said, “Because within a TIF district, the property taxes that are collected have to stay within the TIF and within those boundaries. Now that it expired, the village’s portion of those property taxes comes back to us,” as well as to the schools, library and park district.
According to Cummings, the tax revenues that had been allocated to the TIF can now be reallocated for other uses in the community.
