Pekin Council approves two new residential TIF districts

Mike Kramer, Pekin Daily Times
·2 min read

The establishment of two new Residential Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts dominated the agenda at Monday’s Pekin City Council meeting, with eight action items being related to them.

Ordinances approving the redevelopment plan and projects for The Pekin East Residential TIF District and the Pekin South Residential TIF District, designating redevelopment project areas, and adopting TIF Allocation Funding for the districts all passed 6-1, with Council member Rick Hilst casting the contrary votes.

City TIF Attorney Nick Nelson believes the districts would add long-term resources dedicated to encouraging development and improving infrastructure.

A boundary map of Pekin's newly created East Residential TIF district.
A boundary map of Pekin's newly created East Residential TIF district.

“In these new residential TIF districts, you have a lot of residential area with a lot of vacant residential lots,” Nelson said. “The inducement resolutions that have been entered into are for new single home builds. Once the TIF is in place, the base value of all those vacant lots is going to be next to zero. When homes are built, all that new EAV (equalized assessed valuation) is going to generate TIF increments. That’s what the city has available to provide incentives. The residential TIFs should thrive because you’re going to have all these new homes that are going to generate increments.”

The Council also approved the execution of intergovernmental agreements between the city and Pekin Community High Schoo, Rankin School District, Pekin Public School District and the North Pekin-Marquette Heights School District.

According to Interim Pekin City Manager John Dossey, the city needed to enter into the agreements to set up the residential TIF districts. The city will reimburse the districts 15% of all incremental tax revenues for capital costs incurred because of the TIF districts. The ordinances passed 6-1, with Hilst dissenting.

In non-TIF-related business, the Council unanimously passed:

  • A resolution for the purchase of network servers for City Hall and the Wastewater Treatment Plant for $97,662.

  • A resolution to award an $843,900 riverfront retaining wall, silo, and structure demolition project to Stark Excavating.

The boundaries of Pekin's new South Residential TIF District are defined in dark gray.
The boundaries of Pekin's new South Residential TIF District are defined in dark gray.

This article originally appeared on Pekin Daily Times: Pekin Council approves two new residential TIF districts