Saginaw Brownfield Authority explains remediation tools and tax-increment financing role

Eric Tankersley, chief financial officer for Shaheen Development and chair of the Saginaw Brownfield Redevelopment Authority, presented the authority’s purpose and typical activities to the Planning Commission.

Tankersley said the Authority promotes revitalization of properties complicated by contamination, reviews brownfield plans and financial proposals, and makes recommendations to city council including authorization of tax-increment financing for eligible remediation and redevelopment costs. He listed eligible brownfield activities that the authority reviews: environmental assessments and subsurface investigations, cleanup activities to remove hazardous substances, due-care planning, dewatering, excavation and demolition.

He said the primary goals are to localize decision making on redevelopment, enhance the tax base through private redevelopment, and enable marketing of difficult-to-develop sites. Tankersley told commissioners that after plan approval developers must submit eligible activities for review and audit before cost reimbursement through tax increment financing is effectuated.

In response to commissioner questions he said he did not have a precise tally of active projects but that, in his roughly four years on the authority, redevelopment activity increased substantially in the prior 12–18 months.

Ending: Tankersley invited questions and said the authority’s work focuses on facilitating remediation and private redevelopment through established brownfield tools and tax-increment financing recommendations to council.