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Hollis TIFF committee urges quick plan to use remaining funds; board empowers manager to study options
Summary
The TIFF advisory committee recommended using the $800,000 remaining in the TIFF public-safety line for town police protection and engaging planners to spend $3.55 million earmarked for economic development; the Select Board voted to empower the town manager to research feasibility and potential uses of administrative TIFF funds for planning and public-safety options.
The Hollis Select Board on June 17 heard a report from the town's TIFF advisory committee and moved to direct staff to study next steps to deploy remaining TIFF money. Joe Ponzetti, chair of the committee, summarized the panel's March'June work and said the committee's central question was how to avoid forfeiting earmarked funds as the TIFF term nears expiry.
Ponzetti said the committee found the TIFF contains a remaining balance designated for public safety of about $800,000 and an undrawn $3,550,000 for economic development. "The committee felt that we really needed to think about using that $800,000 ... to develop the town's own police force," he told the board, noting the expense and staffing challenges of standing up local policing.
The report traced TIFF history back to the original 1999 agreement, a 2017 extension and a 2024 amendment that added funds for the municipal complex. Committee materials laid out the TIFF categories and the limited flexibility to move line items without a formal amendment.
Board members pressed for concrete numbers and alternatives. Several members and residents warned that reworking line items and pursuing an amendment would take months, shortening the window for implementation. Members asked the town manager to return with more precise cost comparisons for contracting versus in-house policing, and for cost estimates showing what building an economic-development program would require.
The board voted to empower the town manager to research the feasibility of: (1) using TIFF administration funds (the committee identified roughly $225,000 available for administration) to hire planning professionals to scope economic-development options, and (2) evaluating alternatives for public-safety coverage so the town can make an informed decision to pursue voter action or an amendment before funds lapse. The motion passed after a second.
Next steps outlined by the board include having staff solicit potential consultants, assemble clearer line-item accounting for the TIFF balance, and return to the board with a recommended timeline for any warrant question or amendment. The committee and select board emphasized that any action to change designated uses will require clear voter-facing materials and, where necessary, a warrant vote.
