Residents urge using TIF funds for sidewalks as city eyes multimillion-dollar grant matches

Resident Jared told the committee that the TIF district contains funds intended for walkability but that many areas remain undeveloped and lack sidewalks. "If you want to walk from point A to point B, you're walking through a hayfield," he said, urging the city to allocate existing TIF money toward sidewalks and pedestrian access.

City Manager Charlie said the city is reviewing TIF plans and has engaged a consultant to analyze district edits and possible creation of a downtown TIF portage district. He cited two large grant opportunities: a village partnership initiative (VPI) with a potential $30 million total investment that the manager described as a 9-to-1 state/federal to city match (implying roughly $3 million local match) and a Thriving Communities federal initiative that could fund engineering and large-scale multimodal projects.

Charlie said redesigning TIF districts to “squirrel away” match funds and improving the city’s procurement and grants-management systems would make it easier to pursue those large matches and reduce pressure on the general fund. Committee members discussed the tradeoffs of spending TIF dollars on waterfront branding and events versus infrastructure in commercial corridors such as the Myrick Street area.