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Burlington officials urge clear language to preserve education‑increment split in TIFF extension
Summary
City representatives and the committee discussed ambiguous language in a TIFF extension that left unclear whether the city must change the education increment split; the city urged explicit intent language to extend the existing 25% education payment through 2035 or to combine base taxable values to simplify administration.
David White, who said he represents the City of Burlington as president of White B Real Estate Advisors, told the committee the 2016 TIFF extension for the city's district was intended to carry existing terms forward to 2035 but that the auditor's office believes the statute is ambiguous. "The simplest thing you can do ... would be to explicitly say that the 25% payment ... would get extended to 2035," White said, asking the legislature to remove ambiguity that could prompt litigation or conflicting interpretations.
White and Ashley Parker (director of capital programs for Burlington) described how the district's split of original taxable values (1996 vs. 2010) and the 25% vs. 30% education payment treatment created administrative headaches for local officials; they proposed several drafting options: explicitly extend current retention percentages to 2035, combine the two base amounts for simplicity, or keep the current structure but add legislative intent language.
Joint Fiscal Office staff and other committee members discussed the fiscal scale of the options; staff said combining the two bases would have a modest effect (roughly $17,000 per year in the city's case) and recommended intent language to enshrine current practice. Committee members asked for draft amendment language and asked John Gray (legislative drafter, referenced) to prepare text for posting.
Committee members planned straw polls and directed staff to work with municipal counsel; no formal vote was recorded in the hearing.
