West Bend council approves Tax Increment District 18 to fund Roscoe Road area redevelopment

The West Bend Common Council voted 7–1 on Aug. 4 to create Tax Increment District No. 18 and adopt its project plan, allowing the city to capture tax increment from future development along Roscoe Road between River and Main streets.

City staff and outside consultants told the council the district would cover about 164 acres (excluding roughly 12.8 acres of wetland) and finance approximately $31.4 million in public and program costs, including reconstruction of Rusco Road, a roundabout at Rusco and River, a small lift station and incentives to support residential and industrial development.

The plan anticipates about 315 housing units — an estimated 6.3 units per acre once wetlands and public infrastructure are excluded — generating roughly $103–$104 million in new taxable value from the residential component and additional value from proposed industrial development. Consultants presented a modeled increment of about $37 million in future tax increment and projected the TID would likely run the full 20‑year statutory life for mixed‑use districts.

Why it matters: the city and its partners say the district is intended to pay for infrastructure needed to make both residential “NextGen” housing and industrial sites buildable and economically viable.…