Council approves TIF for proposed dairy processing plant; agreement contingent on annexation

Council members on Tuesday adopted redevelopment resolutions approving tax-increment financing (TIF) for a proposed dairy processing and bottling facility in the city’s rail campus, while placing a clear condition that the agreement is void if the property is not annexed into the city.

The redevelopment agreement before the Seward City Council would back up to $8,655,500 in TIF on a project with an estimated final real-estate valuation of $41,152,420 and total project costs of about $186,000,000. The council passed the related resolutions by recorded votes of 7-0.

Andrew Willis, the city’s TIF attorney, told the council the redevelopment plan and agreement follow the rail-campus redevelopment strategy and include a contingency tied to annexation. “If the project for some reason is not annexed into the city, then it would be void and this wouldn’t go forward,” Willis said, summarizing the condition built into the agreement.

Why it matters: the proposed development would add a 240,000-square-foot bottling and warehouse facility, support construction activity and equipment investments the applicant estimates at roughly $186 million, and could create the equivalent of up to 70 new jobs. The agreement identifies more than $16 million in eligible TIF uses — site acquisition, grading, wastewater pretreatment, architectural and engineering fees, and energy-efficiency improvements — but only about $8.66 million of those uses were supported by the project’s projected real-estate increment under the assessor’s valuation.

Details from the meeting: Willis said the site is currently outside the city’s corporate limits but is in the process of annexation. Because the Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) is limited to corporate limits, the redevelopment agreement and resolution were written so the TIF approvals would be contingent on the annexation becoming effective; without annexation the agreement terminates. Willis also said the difference between total project cost and the assessed real-estate value is likely explained by large amounts of personal property and equipment that do not count as real-estate value.

Public comment and representation: a representative of the Tolles family, Brett Rusher, appeared at the hearing and said the family is “excited to be a part of Seward and community” and willing to answer council questions as the project advances.

Council action and next steps: the council introduced and adopted the redevelopment plan and associated redevelopment agreement resolutions (designated in the meeting packet as resolutions 2025-19 and 2025-20). Both resolutions passed on recorded votes of 7-0. Because the agreement contains an annexation contingency, staff and the developer will need to complete annexation procedures for the TIF to take effect; no additional council action on the TIF will be required if the annexation occurs as structured in the agreement.