Gilman board eyes TIF district to spur economic growth in village

Development in a community is always desired and with a lot of recent interest shown in that for Gilman, the village board is looking into creating a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district, leading to the creation of a Tax Increment District (TID), stretching from the west side to the east side of the village, which would include the nursing home/assisted living facility, as well as the area where the Dollar General is being constructed.

“The thing about TIF districts, they got to be contiguous to each other,” said MSA representative Dave Rasmussen. “We have included areas that potentially could be developed.”

Rasmussen was present at the regular Gilman Village Board meeting Feb. 8, to talk over the matter and answer any questions the board might have. In the proposed TIF, 70-some parcels would be included. Whenever a municipality creates a TIF district, they need to go through a process, which involves putting the project plan together and listing the projects they plan to undertake within the next 15 years of the TIF.

The TIF Rasmussen proposed is a mixed use TID, which operates for 20 years. The village needs to have some expected projects already listed, such as revitalization, water/sewer projects, etc., with new projects added on as they go.

“It’s kind of a work in progress,” said Rasmussen. However, in order to get in on that desirable property for the TIF, Gilman must approve it before Sept. 30, with the base value of the TIF set as of Jan. 1, but any increase in value in the properties included in the district, are counted.

“As that value goes up with new development and so forth, that’s what creates the tax increment,” said Rasmussen.

Residents will pay same amount of taxes within the TIF district, but instead of sharing them to the school district, county and technical college, the village retains the taxes to increment in the district to pay for improvements they’ve invested in.

Jane DeStaercke, village president, suggested they wait for the Board of Review to see what property values are. The Board of Review is generally held in May, but the village assessor says it will be later in the year, maybe even as late as August.

“We have to be cognizant of the fact that we may not want to approve this timeline, if we do approve the contract,” said DeStaercke.

Rasmussen said they can get the plans all ready, the village just has to make sure to get it in before the deadline, to capitalize on those new developments.

“You would want to create it this year, so you can capture the Dollar General property,” he said.

DeStaercke said, since the village had already discussed creating a TIF about a year ago, and it would be of nothing but benefit and would add to the village positively, especially with the recent interest shown in development, she’d like to see it approved.

“One of the first things they ask, is do you have a TIF?” said DeStaercke. “It’d be nice to say we have one.”

Rasmussen said development probably won’t occur without a TIF in place.

“It’s the only development tool that communities have and it’s locally controlled,” said Rasmussen.

The contract with MSA will pay for itself, taken out of taxes collected from the TIF, so the board approved MSA to start the process.

With the expected increase in large trucks and traffic at the coming Dollar General, trustee Russ Baker brought up a matter he’d been approached about – moving the 35 and 55 mph speed limit signs out farther, going out of town to the east.

“It makes more sense now, with the Dollar General going in,” said Baker. “There are quite a few houses past the 35.”

Members agreed they would write a letter requesting/ in support of the speed changes, if it was needed, but, ultimately, the decision and action rests with the WisDOT.

“My guess is it will change,” said Gilman Police Chief Tom Tallier.

On the subject of development, trustee Dee Bornheimer questioned, why the village helped with applying for a Vibrant Spaces grant for Hidden Treasures, since that new venture is owned by the Gilman Industrial Foundation. DeStaercke says the village had to help out with the grant work, in order for the requirements to be met.

“I thought that was supposed to be for public spaces only,” said Bornheimer.

DeStaercke said the grant money will be used to create a patio behind that business for public use, like live music, get-togethers and community meetings.

“It certainly will be a vast improvement over what is there now,” said DeStaercke.

Candice Grunseth, village clerk, pointed out that the village was willing to help other businesses apply for the grant, but no one came to the meeting that was held on the matter. She also said some did not qualify, as there was nothing to improve, if a business is functioning well, with very specific perimeters to the grant eligibility.

Resident/business owner Steve Bornheimer asked if anything has been done about the place on Main Street that might not have a chimney up to code. DeStaercke said the resident has been contacted, but they have until the 15th of the month to take action or contact the village, and if the resident does not respond by then, the village can take action.

“We can’t do anything, legally,” said DeStaercke. DeStaercke also said that she met with the village attorney, as an issue had come up that new public works director Dave Kroeplin doesn’t have a CDL to plow snow, but the village does have a licensed CDL operator on the payroll.

“We are totally in compliance with what the law requires,” she said.

To help with plowing when needed, the village agreed on the hire of S. Bornheimer, with all trustees in favor, except for D. Bornheimer, who abstained.

Although plowing is now figured out, the village is having a problem with a select few individuals who abuse the rules when snowmobiling, as it looks that a local rider has driven their sled across the foot bridge. With as much snow as there is on the bridge, there was no damage at the time.

“It’s part of the reason why we do need a better system of our snowmobile trail through town,” said Tallier.

Tallier and Kroeplin said they would like to have a special snowmobile bridge constructed, so the sleds did not have to drive on pavement.

“If we could come together and figure out a resolution for that, that would be great,” said Tallier.

Kroeplin says his club appreciates the village letting the snowmobilers have access and that they are looking into state funding for a bridge, but are at least two years out.

“There’s a lot of road riding,” he said. As a side note, DeStaercke reported that a citizen complained to the county clerk – who oversees the elections for each municipality – that the village was trying to conceal when the recent caucus was held. DeStaercke admitted that the date was incorrect in the newsletter, but the day was correct and the legal postings were all in order.

“There was nothing amiss with our caucus,” she said. “It was handled properly.”