Marquette extends downtown TIF to 2054, adopts 5% revenue‑share with DDA

The Marquette City Commission voted 7–0 on Aug. 11 to adopt Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Plan No. 5 for the Marquette Downtown Development Authority (DDA), extending the district's TIF term to Feb. 1, 2054, and separately approved a revenue‑sharing agreement under which the city will receive 5% of the DDA's gross TIF revenues, with a mandatory five‑year review schedule.

The DDA director, Tara, told commissioners the extension is intended to provide time to deliver a set of priority capital projects in the downtown plan adopted in 2020. She said the DDA's list of project priorities includes a Berghast Street improvement (estimated $7.5 million), Third Street connections ($2.8 million), Market Commons improvements ($3 million) and a multi‑project parking redevelopment bucket (an estimated $15 million for potential lots or garages). "Extending to 2054 enables project delivery and community transformation," Tara said.

Why it matters: the extension length lets the DDA bond against long‑term revenues to finance multi‑year projects and aligns with the DDA's downtown plan, staff told the commission. The revenue sharing agreement was negotiated as a companion measure to balance the city's financial needs with the DDA's long‑term project portfolio. City staff estimate the city's share will be about $63,000 in the first year; under conservative growth assumptions the agreement's total value was estimated in staff materials at roughly $2,893,580 over the life of the contract, with an estimated share of about $148,110 in the final year.

Commissioners debated the policy tradeoffs. Commissioner Davis said she supported the extension but raised concerns about the long term effects on other taxing jurisdictions and about residential parcels inside the DDA/TIF area. "Approximately 60% of the financing that's coming from TIF is going to the operating cost of the DDA," she said, noting that if the DDA did not exist the city would likely have to absorb those services. Davis pressed for a shorter mandatory review period than five years before ultimately voting for the plan after discussion and an offer to rescind her amendment. Other commissioners urged continued oversight and recommended staff and the DDA report back periodically on progress.

City staff described operational and budget context. The city manager and deputy city manager said TIF revenues now support a significant share of DDA operations and that replacing those services within the city budget would require adding staff and roughly $1.1 million in operating support, against an estimated $650,000 in taxable revenue the city would directly receive without the DDA structure.

Both items were carried by roll call vote. For the TIF plan and ordinance adoption the motion to approve TIF Plan No. 5 and adopt Ordinance 25‑08 was made by Commissioner Ottaway, seconded by Commissioner Gottlieb; the roll call result was 7 in favor, 0 opposed. The revenue‑sharing agreement was moved by Mayor Pro Tem Schlegel and seconded (as recorded) by another commissioner; that motion also passed on a 7–0 roll call.

Public comment at the hearing stage was nil. A later public comment during the general comment period included a resident, Geraldine Nault of North McClellan Avenue, who said she feared the TIF would never end and expressed concern that long‑running TIF arrangements shift property tax increases away from city services and toward downtown redevelopment.

What happens next: ordinance 25‑08 (the formal adoption mechanism for TIF Plan No. 5) was adopted at this meeting and the revenue‑sharing agreement was signed by authorized officials. City staff will monitor DDA revenues and projects and report under the five‑year review schedule written into the agreement; the commission may request interim reports or direct the city manager to renegotiate sooner if both parties agree.

Votes at a glance: On Aug. 11 the commission voted 7–0 to (1) approve Downtown Development Authority TIF Plan No. 5 and adopt Ordinance 25‑08 (mover: Commissioner Ottaway; seconder: Commissioner Gottlieb); and (2) approve the revenue‑sharing agreement between the city and the Marquette DDA providing 5% of the DDA's gross TIF revenues to the city, with mandatory five‑year reviews (mover: Mayor Pro Tem Schlegel; seconder: recorded as a commissioner).