Waunakee Joint Review Board reviews annual TID PE-300 reports; board acknowledges filings and appoints public member

The Waunakee Joint Review Board met Sept. 19 to review its annual PE-300 reports for multiple tax incremental districts and to discuss projected closures, fund balances and outstanding incentives.

Todd Tibbs, who presented the overview of the PE-300 submissions, said TID No. 3 had closed after May 15 and reported a final incremental value “just over $67,000,000,” a year-end fund balance of about $691,000 and a reimbursement of $1,000,001.89 tied to prior draws on a letter of credit; he noted a small residual of approximately $5.70 would be transferred to the village’s affordable housing fund after closeout. Tibbs also said the closeout audit was underway.

The board heard separate updates for other districts. Staff said the senior-center district (TID 4) showed about a $3.6 million year-over-year increase in equalized value and a roughly $93,000 fund balance at the end of the last audit period; recent soil discoveries required topsoil removal and environmental monitoring, and staff expect remediation work to be completed before the expenditure period ends so the Department of Natural Resources can close the site. For the downtown-area district (TID 5), staff reported an increase in incremental value from roughly $30 million to about $50 million, a $283,000 addition to fund balance and a projection that 2025 levy collections should recover project costs unless the board elects a housing-extension year.

Kilkenny Farms (TID 6) saw about a $31 million year-over-year value increase; an amendment and added projected costs pushed its projected closure roughly two years later than last year’s report, but cumulative fund balance remained healthy (about $1.8 million at last audit). TID 7, a single-project district for Renew Air, lost about $1.7 million of value after removal of personal property from the tax rolls but is expected to receive an offsetting aid payment of about $28,000 next year. A related overlay (the HUBT project, tied to TID 5) reflected the recent opening of Grama Coffee and a $16.5 million increase that moved a projected closure date earlier, to about 2034 under current assumptions.

Staff said TID 9 — amended to add a parcel for a newcomer project — increased by roughly $11 million year over year. That district showed a negative fund balance at the end of the last year’s audit but is projected to return to positive with next year’s increment collections; staff said projected cash flows suggest the district could be prepaid and closed by about 2031. Tibbs noted incentive payments tied to Octopi and the newcomer project were reflected on a projected, pay-as-you-go basis.

A board member briefed the group that the village is negotiating with new ownership of the Octopi project (identified as Asahi) over development-incentive amounts; the outcome was not finalized.

On procedural business, the board approved a public member appointment (confirmed as Jim Elvigrove in roll call), moved and seconded the nomination of Kristen (referred to in the record as both Kristen Runge and Kristen Roney) as chair, approved the April 25 minutes and, by voice vote, acknowledged filing of the annual PE-300 reports and compliance with annual meeting requirements. The meeting was recorded for posting on the village’s YouTube channel; staff will include copies of the presentation slides with the posted video. The board adjourned at 6:10 p.m.

Next steps: staff expect the closeout audits and PE-300 filings to be finalized shortly; any decision on one-year housing extensions for individual TIDs will be made by the village board as each district approaches closure.