La Porte redevelopment commission hears TIF annual report; projections show growth as hospital deductions expire

La Porte Redevelopment Commission members heard an annual tax-increment financing report Oct. 29 from Andy, a consultant with Baker Tilly, outlining current TIF collections, scheduled expirations and projections for future revenue.

The presentation matters because TIF revenue funds redevelopment debt service and new projects. Andy told the commission the city currently receives roughly $3.6 million a year across its allocation areas and that collections could approach just under $5 million in the early 2030s as enterprise-zone deductions on hospital property phase out and new development in newly established areas begins to generate tax increment.

Andy described the central business allocation areas as bringing in about $1.1 million per year in 2024–25 and projected modest growth to roughly $1.2 million as new projects come online. The hospital allocation area currently contributes minimal captured TIF because of a 10-year enterprise-zone deduction; Andy said the fee collected in lieu of taxes from the hospital and related campus activity generates more than $400,000 per year that is distributed back to the redevelopment commission. He told commissioners the Flaherty and Collins (Newport Landing) allocation area is producing approximately $357,000 in TIF and that the project sponsors committed to a minimum annual payment of $440,000 when financing was put in place.

Andy said the Thomas Rose industrial allocation area has grown from about $999,000 in 2019 to roughly $1.6 million in 2024 and was projected to remain near $1.6 million in 2025. The Eastgate area, which includes the American Signature manufacturing facility, has been consistent at about $300,000 a year, and the Town Square allocation area has been steady at roughly $120,000–$130,000 per year.

The presentation included a summary of outstanding TIF-backed debt. Andy reported approximately $2.2 million per year in current obligations through 2035, with bonds issued in 2015, 2020, 2021 and 2024 funding infrastructure across Thomas Rose, the central business area and Newport Landing. He noted the 2020 Newport Landing bonds were issued as taxable debt at historically low rates (1.1–2.6 percent) and that similar taxable issuance today likely would incur higher rates.

Andy also reviewed La Porte’s two newest allocation areas, 39 North and Boyd Boulevard, both established in May 2024 with 25-year lives that run to 2049. He said no TIF revenue was expected from those areas in 2025 but that future development — including a Microsoft data center in the Boyd Boulevard area — would generate tax increment to help offset revenues lost from expiring allocation areas.

Andy noted state legislation (Senate Bill 1) provides new property-tax deductions that will affect TIF areas that include apartments and other property classes, but he said his projections (included in the written TIF report provided to the commission) anticipate only minimal net impacts to La Porte’s TIF collections.

Commissioners asked no substantive follow-up questions during the presentation; Andy invited questions and said he would provide copies of the full TIF report.

The commission received the report for its annual public record and planning purposes.