Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Economic Development Tif topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board approves Summerlin economic-impact plan, authorizes TIF to fund infrastructure
Summary
The Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Aldermen approved an economic-impact plan and authorized steps to implement a tax-increment financing arrangement for the Summerlin mixed-use development, enabling reimbursement or debt service for public infrastructure up to a stated cap.
The Tullahoma Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to approve an economic-impact plan for the Summerlin mixed‑use development and authorized city officials to take actions necessary to implement a tax‑increment financing (TIF) program for the project. The resolution passed by board vote (recorded as six yes votes).
The plan, presented by Winston Brooks on behalf of the Tullahoma Area Economic Development Corporation (TAEDC), would support public infrastructure and eligible project costs through TIF. "This is a fair deal and is going to be an exciting development for Tullahoma that will provide many economic development benefits as well as be a catalyst to build out the rest of North Jackson," Brooks said.
Under the application and the economic analysis submitted with it, the development would include roughly 50,000 square feet of retail commercial space, about 300 townhomes, 320 multifamily units and 350 single‑family homes. The presentation described a maximum TIF amount of up to $18,400,000 with a payback period of up to 20 years, and noted a net present‑value figure shown in the plan as $18,450,683. The proposal calls for a 60/40 split of new incremental taxes (60% to the project financing, 40% retained by the city), while the base tax amount that exists today would continue to be retained by the city.
Developer Chris Rudd of Beacon Companies described the practical mechanics: "So the way that this works in layman's terms, it's a reimbursement. So we are eligible for a reimbursement of our expenses for public infrastructure work. Sewer, water, roads, curb gutter, things that are dedicated over to the city or the county. Those are things that we can get reimbursed for out of this increment, but once they're complete." Rudd said the developer funds infrastructure upfront and seeks reimbursement from accrued increment once eligible work is complete.
Betsy Knotts, an attorney with Bass, Berry & Sims who assisted on the documents, explained statutory limits: "State law requires that the base tax amount be frozen as of the year before the plan is approved." Knotts also noted that the plan before the board is atypical in that "40% of the new increment is going back to the city for the entire life of the TIF. That is not normal. Most of the time, that 40% goes over to the developer."
Board members asked detailed questions about financing mechanics, whether the arrangement could be structured as bonds or loans, how the increment is calculated and when reimbursements or debt service would occur. Staff and outside counsel said the documents contemplate reimbursement arrangements and the possibility of debt service, and that a separate development agreement would set detailed terms and documentation requirements for eligible costs.
Board members and the TAEDC said the arrangement is nonrecourse to the city and county, and that the primary public purpose is to fund infrastructure that would make the site suitable for the planned retail and housing. Final development agreements and implementing documents will be negotiated following the plan approval.
The board voted to approve the economic‑impact plan and authorized officials to take necessary implementation steps; the vote recorded six yes votes.
