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TIF district update: $10 million warrant failed; officials urge clearer wording next year
Summary
TIF district chair outlined infrastructure phases and reported recent development activity that will expand the tax base; a $10 million warrant article to fund phases 1 and 2 failed at town meeting.
Mike Summers, chair of Hooksett’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district committee, told the Town Council on April 23 that a $10 million warrant article intended to fund phases 1 and 2 of a five-phase infrastructure plan failed at town meeting and that the committee will discuss whether to return with revised wording next year.
Summers said the TIF district, established in 2017 and modified most recently in 2022, would have used the $10 million to fund upgrades including the Martins Ferry force main, improvements to the Martins Ferry pump station, a double-barrel force main under the Merrimack River and a Kimball Drive pump station. He said phase 3 (Exit 11) was recently completed in partnership with a private developer and that the system is close to being able to accept residential hookups in that area.
Summers outlined near-term development and tax-base prospects for the district: completed or soon-to-complete projects he named included Granite Woods LLC, Marmon site improvements on Legends Drive, Harley-Davidson finishing this spring, an Old Dominion project expected in two to three years, upgrades at 200 and 400 Technology Drive, work at a parcel on Bemis Savoy Road and a new glass-recycling facility on Kate Road. He credited town engineering staff, in particular the town engineer (named in the meeting as Bruce), for grant and funding work that supported progress.
Councilors and Summers discussed why the warrant article failed. Summers and other members said the warrant wording may not have clearly explained the tax impact — and that lack of clarity could have contributed to voter concern. Several councilors suggested the committee and council coordinate on clearer language before attempting another warrant next year.
No formal action was taken; Summers recommended the TIF advisory committee and council plan outreach and clearer warrant language if they bring funding for phases 1 and 2 back to voters.
