Germantown reviews village-center financing options, TID status and RFP timetable

Village of Germantown officials spent the July 7 joint meeting reviewing the status of existing tax incremental districts (TIDs), possible financing scenarios for the proposed village center redevelopment and a proposed timetable for rezoning and an RFP process.

Phil Kossen of Ehlers and Associates briefed the plan commission and village board on four existing TIDs and potential paths forward for a new TID for the village center. He said the four active districts are performing strongly: TID 6 had roughly $55 million in incremental value, TID 7 about $44 million, TID 8 approximately $200 million and TID 9 about $24 million, subject to Department of Revenue valuation updates. "All four districts are performing very well," Kossen said, and he noted the Department of Revenue planned to release updated valuations later that week.

Kossen framed four broad options: (1) proceed with creation of TID 10 as originally proposed and pursue the higher-density build-out reflected in the draft project plan; (2) create a smaller TID covering the FlowerSource properties only (and optionally retain the Ascension property inside the TID); (3) do not create a new TID and instead sell village-owned land to a developer, using sale proceeds to reduce village exposure; or (4) other permutations that combine parcels or postpone decisions. Under the original draft, Ehlers’ model assumed as much as $85 million of new taxable development would be needed to support the draft project-plan costs across phases; that figure included assumptions about residential density and the scale of commercial/market-plot components.

Kossen spelled out how the village has already financed preliminary work: the village issued a pair of 2025 note series that included about $7.79 million in taxable borrowing for eligible village-center expenses, plus roughly $365,000 of tax-exempt planning expenses. He reminded the board there is a multi-year lag between construction and recognized tax increment revenue, and said the village structured some of the debt to delay principal payments into 2028–2029 to match that timing. He also noted the village currently receives lease revenue from Ascension of about $425,000 per year through 2028, with options to extend the lease.

Why it matters: TID choices determine how much risk the village bears, when new tax revenue flows to the general levy, and what financing is available for public infrastructure. Kossen highlighted principal risks: market conditions that produce less taxable value than modeled, political decisions that change project scope, failure to secure parcels (BP and BMO properties were identified as important for market-plot development) and the possibility that some infrastructure or remediation costs could fall to the village if developers do not fund them.

Bailey Copeland, charged with managing the RFP process, recommended adopting the village’s zoning framework for the village center before issuing an RFP to attract proposals that match community goals. Copeland said starting with zoning "strengthens the village's position financially and strategically and helps ensure that any future development aligns closely with both the community priorities and village goals." She outlined a schedule that would bring a visual-preference and community-engagement session to the plan commission and then, if the commission recommends adoption, forward a zoning ordinance to the village board and issue an RFP afterward.

Trustees debated timing. Some members asked the village to delay public-engagement meetings that had been tentatively scheduled in late August because residents and families would be less likely to participate during the start of the school year and end-of-summer travel. Several trustees and staff agreed to adjust outreach timing and to ensure multiple notification channels. Multiple public correspondents who submitted written comments supported village-center redevelopment and said higher-density housing is needed to diversify housing supply; other residents reiterated concerns about scale, design, parking and the adequacy of the planned market-plot size for larger events.

What changed: the board heard that all four existing TIDs are in positive cash flow and that there is flexibility in how a new village-center TID could be scoped. Copeland and staff recommended finalizing zoning and community input before issuing an RFP; no final decision was made on whether to create TID 10 or another financing approach.

Next steps: staff will revise the schedule for plan-commission outreach and the visual-preference survey, refine zoning proposals with Rinka/Van Briesen, collect updated DOR valuations when released, and return to the board with the RFP timeline and refined financing scenarios after community input and a formal planning-commission recommendation.