Chickasaw County reviews using TIF from wind-turbine valuations to pay for roads, buildings

Chickasaw County supervisors on May 19 received a detailed briefing on using tax-increment financing generated by new wind-turbine valuation to fund county projects such as road repairs, storage and office space, and other infrastructure, and discussed next steps including internal loans, bond timing and the Dec. 1 TIF certification deadline.

A financial consultant told the board the wind-turbine valuation could produce roughly $339,000 in TIF income in year one and ramp toward about $2,000,000 a year as valuation phases in, with longer-term valuation growth producing roughly $100,000,000 of TIF valuation over time. The consultant cautioned that “you cannot claim any of this TIF income until you put an obligation on the books,” and noted that one option is to create an internal loan or to issue debt and certify that obligation before the Dec. 1 deadline.

The briefing put the potential scale in context: the county still has about $1.8 million remaining on an emergency communications equipment debt with roughly four years left; borrowing $3 million, $4 million or $5 million at an illustrative…