Dearborn Heights TIFA previews $4.27 million budget, highlights fire station and park projects

Tom Roscoe, the CEO of the Dearborn Heights Tax Increment Finance Authority, told the City Council at a special study session on Oct. 12 that the authority's proposed budget for the coming year anticipates about $3.4 million in TIF capture and totals roughly $4.27 million.

The budget presentation focused on routine bond obligations, capital projects and targeted grants for the TIFA district, and flagged a newly discovered $2.4 million transfer identified in the draft audit.

Nut graf: The TIFA budget covers annual bond payments that the authority pays on behalf of the city, targeted projects within the TIFA district and a small commercial grant program. Roscoe said an unexpected increase in property valuation tied to utility upgrades produced a larger-than-anticipated capture this year, giving the authority more available funds and prompting proposals for a second-floor expansion at the South End fire station, tennis-court repairs at Daily Park and a $900,000 sewer set-aside for the next year.

Roscoe said, "It was established in Dearborn Heights in 1986 under state act, which allowed cities to establish a tax increment finance authority district, which, in essence is allowed to capture a portion of the property taxes that would otherwise be sent elsewhere." He described the…