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Chamber urges Riley County commissioners to delay proposed RHID policy, raises income and TIF concerns
Summary
A Chamber representative asked Riley County commissioners to pause consideration of a newly circulated RHID policy, citing fast timing, conflicting income guidelines with city policy and limits on tax-increment financing.
Tom Phillips, chair of the Chamber's Business Abbesses Committee, asked the Riley County Commission on Feb. 13 to delay action on a proposed RHID policy to allow more stakeholder input. "We're asking you on the RHID policy ... to slow down and either table it or delay it so that you have an opportunity to hear from other interested stakeholders in the city and in the county," Phillips said during the public-comment period.
Phillips said the chamber and local business members had only received the official policy a few days earlier and described the process as moving "very fast." He told commissioners that the chamber's first request is a formal pause; its second is that, if the county proceeds, the policy allow more flexibility for elected officials to evaluate individual applications.
Phillips also raised two specific concerns. First, he said the county draft sets income guidelines at about "80% of the average median income," while, he said, the city's comparable guideline was closer to "20, I think, or maybe it's a 30% of the, average median income," a discrepancy he said could make certain housing products economically infeasible for developers. Second, Phillips noted the county draft proposes a 10-year tax-increment financing (TIF) term while, he said, "state law allows for the issuance of a 25 year, tax increment financing." He urged the commission to retain flexibility on the financing term.
No formal action on the RHID policy was recorded at the Feb. 13 meeting; Phillips's remarks were delivered during the public-comment portion of the agenda. Jason Smith, identified in the remarks as executive director of the chamber, attended but did not speak. Commissioners did not take up the item for a vote during the meeting.
Why it matters: County policy choices on income thresholds and TIF terms affect what housing developers can build and the amount and duration of public subsidy. A delay would give more time for municipalities, business groups and developers to reconcile differences and for commissioners to consider alternations.
Looking ahead: Phillips asked the commission either to table the draft or to revise it to allow case-by-case flexibility; the commission did not announce further steps on the policy during the meeting.
