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House committee continues review of housing tax-increment financing proposal
Summary
Legislative counsel and committee members spent a technical session parsing application rules, debt windows and safeguards in a bill to let municipalities use tax-increment financing for housing infrastructure, and scheduled a follow-up meeting to finish the walk-through.
The House Committee on Commerce & Economic Development on Thursday continued its review of legislation to allow municipalities to use a tax-increment financing (TIF)–style tool for housing infrastructure, focusing on application criteria, borrowing windows and protections for the state education fund.
John Gray, legislative counsel, walked the committee through draft language on the application process, the required financing plan and the limits on municipal indebtedness. “The sole requirement here is that the projected housing development include housing,” Gray said as he described the bill’s pared-down project criteria compared with existing TIF district law.
Gray told members the proposal borrows many process elements from existing TIF statutes but narrows some tests. Under the draft, an applicant need meet only one of three location criteria (Tier 1A/1B areas under Act 250, compatibility with regional and town plans as shown by an RPC letter, or an existing settlement or area within a half mile), instead of multiple project and location thresholds used in current TIF law.
The committee discussed the financing plan that must accompany an application. Gray…
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