Topeka amends CID, TIF and RHID policies to align fees, add transparency and spotlight affordable housing

The governing body of the City of Topeka on Feb. 18 approved coordinated revisions to three development incentive policies — the community improvement district (CID), tax increment financing (TIF) and reinvestment housing incentive district (RHID) rules — intended to standardize fees and review procedures and to add affordable‑housing and transparency provisions.

City planner Rhiannon Freeman, director of development services and planning, told the council the package brings the three programs into alignment. "Putting [a $25,000] funding agreement into the CID makes it even across all of our incentive programs," she said, describing the deposit as a way to cover outside financial and legal advisors and other review costs.

The changes matter because the city routinely uses these incentives to support development. The amendments raise the CID application fee from $1,500 to $5,000 to match TIF and RHID fees; add a $25,000 funding agreement requirement (to be deposited within 15 days of the city's receipt of a complete housing development plan); clarify that certain developer financial records may be treated as exempt from open‑records disclosure and allow non‑disclosure agreements for financial analysis; and insert explicit affordable‑housing language into the TIF policy.

Freeman described other technical updates: expanding reimbursable items in TIF to cover engineering fees and plan reviews, and matching internal review committee membership across policies to include the assistant city manager, CFO, director of public works, director of planning and development and the city attorney (or their designees), plus outside financial and bond counsel as needed.

Public comment at the meeting urged stronger equity protections. Danielle Twimble, a resident who addressed the council during the hearing, said the city should do more to direct incentives to historically disinvested neighborhoods and to require anti‑displacement protections. "If the TIF is going to be used in Topeka, it must be structured to prevent displacement and promote truly inclusive growth," she said, recommending requirements such as affordable set‑asides, tenant protections and community‑benefit agreements.

City staff said the revisions formalize practices already in use (for example, conducting a "but‑for" financial test and using nondisclosure agreements at the financial‑analysis stage) and close policy gaps where procedures existed but were not written into the policy documents.

The governing body voted 9‑0 to approve the CID amendment and 9‑0 on the TIF and RHID policy changes after discussion and public comment. The adopted resolutions also rescind the older resolutions referenced in the docket.