County financial adviser briefs council on TIF portfolio, flags effects of recent property-tax reform

Matt Eckerley, a financial adviser with Baker Tilly, told the Delaware County Council on April 20 that Delaware County’s 27 tax increment allocation (TIF) areas are generally performing as expected but that the county must re-evaluate revenue estimates in light of the recently enacted property-tax reform bill (Senate Enrolled Act 1).

Eckerley said the county filed its annual TIF management report on the DLGS Gateway and presented a look-back for 2024 plus a forward-looking presentation dated March 13. He told council members that the report includes the statutory listing and expiration dates for each allocation area, summaries of revenues and expenditures as of Dec. 31, 2024, and the status of outstanding debt obligations. He said two legacy allocation areas (Daleville and the original Morrison Road area) expire tied to the final maturity of bonds, while other areas have statutory lives of 25 or 30 years depending on establishment date.

Why it matters: TIF proceeds fund bond payments and infrastructure in defined geographies without drawing on general-county funds; changes to state law that alter deductions, personal-property assessment, or local income-tax replacement formulas could shrink the county’s taxable base and change projected TIF…