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Monroe officials outline use of Brownfield TIF to subsidize attainable housing under 2023 law
Summary
City staff explained how Michigan’s 2023 PA 90 allows Brownfield tax-increment financing to be used for housing projects that serve households at 120% of area median income or less, how plans are vetted locally and by MSHDA, and what steps Monroe will take next.
City staff on Monday sketched how Monroe could use newly eligible Brownfield tax-increment financing to help make downtown and other vacant sites viable for attainable housing.
Mark Hackran, the city’s assistant city manager and director of economic and community development, led a work-session presentation that began with “Brownfield 101” and moved into how a 2023 change in state law (PA 90 of 2023) allows reimbursement of housing development costs as eligible Brownfield activities. Hackran said the rule applies when housing units serve households at 120% of the area median income (AMI) or below and pointed to Monroe County’s single-person AMI, which the presentation listed as $64,300.
Hackran said the city’s Brownfield Redevelopment Authority and the city council must vet and approve Brownfield plans locally; if a plan proposes capturing school operating millages the state (now MSHDA for housing plans) must sign off as well. He described the usual sequencing—staff intake and vetting, Brownfield Authority review, a city council certification and then a state review—and emphasized MSHDA’s 60-day review window, noting that if the agency does not respond in 60 days the statute provides for automatic approval.
Why it matters: the change lets Monroe stack incentives—brownfield reimbursement, historic tax credits and other grants—to close finance gaps on projects that otherwise would not pencil out given construction costs and rent limits. Hackran listed eligible costs now explicitly allowed under PA 90: acquisition, site preparation, demolition, asbestos/lead abatement, relocation assistance, qualified rehabilitation, infrastructure or safety upgrades (including elevators and fire suppression), and repayment of a financing gap.
Hackran walked the council through an example calculation showing how MSHDA’s control rents are compared with proposed project rents to estimate an annual shortfall that a brownfield reimbursement could cover over a plan period (brownfield plans may run as long as 30 years). He stressed that staff and the Brownfield Authority will review developers’ pro formas, funding sources and lender commitment letters before recommending approval to council.
Council members pressed staff on several points: whether small projects or single-unit infill could qualify (staff said there is no rigid minimum but projects must meet local objectives), how tax capture is computed (based on taxable value growth, not true cash value), and how privately owned infrastructure can now be reimbursed when necessary to support residential conversions.
Hackran also identified likely candidate sites—upper-floor housing at the Academy building, a large 'high property' parcel for a subarea plan, and infill parcels such as 111 East Front Street—and said the Department of Treasury has offered to fund a housing market analysis and a subarea plan for the larger parcel to meet MSHDA requirements. He said the Brownfield Authority will continue monthly vetting of invoices and costs if plans advance.
The presentation closed with next steps: staff will pursue a market analysis and subarea plan to 'check the boxes' required by MSHDA and return to the Brownfield Authority and council when specific work plans are ready. “This unlocked a whole new world for us to be able to work to make bring attainable housing to Monroe,” Hackran told the council.
The work session ended and the council proceeded into the regular meeting, where later agenda business proceeded as scheduled.
