Committee forwards TIRC tax‑incentive review ordinance (26‑25) to council

The Building & Building Codes Committee on Jan. 20 voted to add Ordinance 26‑25 (Tax Incentive Review Council legislation) to its agenda and forwarded the ordinance to the full council for consideration.

Moved by Chair Kaylee Green and seconded by Michael Wos, the motion to place Ordinance 26‑25 on the committee agenda passed with three yeas (Coleman, Green, Wos) and no nays. The committee later formally moved the ordinance to the council agenda and concluded the meeting.

Mr. Jordan explained that the Tax Increment Review Committee (TIRC) conducts annual reviews of tax‑abatement projects to verify that companies met their investment and job‑creation commitments. He said the school district attends TIRC meetings because it receives over 80% of local real‑estate tax revenue and that the county serves as a neutral manager of the review meetings. He described two prior amendments in which the committee eliminated one bankrupt project and amended another that had met its job goals.

Mr. Jordan acknowledged company concerns about public disclosure of payroll and related documents, saying the application and annual compliance reports are public records but that sensitive payroll numbers can be managed carefully; he said the city will not routinely read detailed payroll tables aloud at council and that executive‑session review is available for confidential business data when permitted.

Why it matters: TIRC oversight provides an annual check on whether tax‑abated projects are delivering the jobs and investment local governments expected; forwarding the ordinance advances the required review and transparency processes to council consideration.

The committee did not amend the ordinance in committee; it voted to send the legislation to council for further action.