Romulus council holds TIFA plan hearing; staff outlines 30‑year extension, boundary changes and 18‑acre public safety purchase

City of Romulus officials held a special council public hearing on Sept. 22 to review a proposed amendment to the city’s Tax Increment Finance Authority (TIFA) plan that staff said would extend the plan term to 30 years, add three boundary areas and improve the city’s ability to bond and fund infrastructure projects.

Kevin Krause, the city’s director of community development and safety, told the council the amendment’s main purposes are to align plan end dates with fiscal projections, "to allow for the highest and best use of TIFRA capture for the quality of life improvements for the citizens," and to enable bonding for projects such as the proposed public safety facility. "So this will take this plan out for a full 30 years and make sure the end date and the fiscal projections for the plan all are in alignment," Krause said.

The draft amendment would change district boundaries to include the City Hall complex (so captured dollars could be used for campus infrastructure), encompass Fire Station 1 (a station the city has discussed reopening or replacing) and add a portion of Pennsylvania Road west of Merriman that is largely wetlands currently owned by the county airport authority. Krause said adding those parcels would allow the city to pursue development and return property to the tax rolls.

Krause highlighted recent uses of TIFA dollars, including improvements to the Department of Public Works (DPW) building and the animal shelter, construction of an ancillary DPW storage building and upgrades to the Romulus Athletic Center. He noted the athletic center will be paid off next year but said its HVAC and mechanical systems are reaching end of life.

On land acquisition, Krause announced that TIFA "officially closed on the property for the Public Safety Headquarters Building"—he said the authority purchased 18 acres on Wick Road (east of Vining Road) from the Schutener trust and is working with consultant PIA on site and development plans. Later in the discussion he stated the purchase price was $2,000,000 for 18 acres (about $100,000 per acre) and contrasted that with a neighboring parcel owned by Ashley Capital that he said was priced closer to $300,000 per acre.

Council members asked whether work on Fire Station 1 would occur concurrently with the new headquarters. Krause said the consultant will present two options: renovate the existing station or demolish and rebuild, and that the projects are being evaluated concurrently to improve coverage across the city.

Elena Moller Younger of OHM Advisors (CIB Planning, recently acquired by OHM) walked through the draft plan structure: updated goals and objectives, a project list (in draft form on page 18 of the plan), and financial tables that project taxable capture over a 30‑year horizon. She said the plan’s financial modeling assumes a 2.4% interest rate for revenue projections and that table 3 breaks down tax increment capture by taxing jurisdiction. Younger said an updated project list will be available within a week and that the council should expect final adoption on Nov. 24, 2025.

The mayor (unnamed in the transcript) emphasized that including the City Hall campus could free general‑fund dollars for other needs, citing a "$1,000,000 upgrade" to City Hall HVAC as an example and noting a $250,000 emergency repair for an east ramp the city is addressing. The mayor also said TIFA previously allowed about $500,000 in capital improvements to be funded through TIFA instead of the general fund.

Krause explained how tax capture works: the district captures taxable value above the established base year and those captured dollars go to the TIFA budget for allocation. He said staff is reviewing proportional maintenance responsibilities for infrastructure inside the district so general‑fund maintenance burdens could be reduced.

No members of the public offered comment on the amendment during the hearing. The council took two formal procedural votes during the special meeting (to adopt the hearing agenda and later to adjourn); no final vote on the TIFA amendment occurred at the hearing. The consultant and staff will circulate the revised draft in about a week ahead of the Nov. 24 adoption action.

The meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m.