Council hears developer on London Gateway TIFs, moves residential TIF hearing to Feb. 20

London City Council on Jan. 16 debated a package of measures to enable development on roughly 1,100 acres described by the developer as the London Gateway project, including two tax-increment financing (TIF) proposals, implementing ordinances and a petition to form a New Community Authority (NCA).

The council postponed final action on Ordinance 207-24 — the residential TIF ordinance creating 19 incentive districts — and rescheduled its public hearing to Feb. 20 after staff said a statutorily required personal notice to property owners had not been sent. The council also held a public hearing on Resolution 210-24, the NCA-sufficiency resolution, and heard an extended presentation from developer Paul Gross and city staff about how the TIFs and the NCA would work.

Why it matters: The package, if approved in later proceedings, would allow the developer to fund major public infrastructure up front and recover costs through tax-increment payments tied to new development. Council members pressed the developer and staff on repayment timelines, interest rates, school-district protections and what financial risk, if any, the city would assume.

Developer Paul Gross said the residential TIF is structured as 19 separate incentive districts so project buildout and tax revenue triggers could be managed parcel by parcel. He…