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City hears annual TIF and debt report: $2.48M GO issuance; available debt capacity about $14.8M
Summary
Spear Financial presented Independence’s annual TIF and debt report, noting a $2.48 million general‑obligation issuance in 2025 with a 3.8625% TIC and an estimated $14.83 million of uncommitted debt capacity after TIF rebate obligations.
Spear Financial consultant Maggie Burgerer told the Independence City Council on Nov. 10 that the city’s 2025 general‑obligation debt issuance totaled $2,480,000 and carried a true interest cost of 3.8625 percent. “That TIC or true interest cost was 3.8625,” Burgerer said, and municipal market rates are hovering near 4 percent, which she said could persist for another six to nine months.
Burgerer walked the council through the city’s debt mix and TIF (tax increment financing) activity. She said the city has small sewer and water revenue debts from 2018 and 2021 and a planning/design loan for the new sewer project that will roll into a construction loan when bids are let. She also described rebate and forgivable‑loan arrangements tied to development incentives, noting the city structures most rebate obligations as annually appropriated rather than long‑term debt. “All of your rebate agreements are annually appropriated,” Burgerer said, and only the annual rebate payment is counted against debt capacity rather than the total outstanding rebate balance.
Burgerer said the TIF district has generated roughly $68,828,000 in valuation since inception and that the city’s $515 million valuation yields a statutory debt limit near $25.7 million. With about $10 million in GO debt outstanding, ongoing scheduled principal reductions and deduction of roughly $350,000 for annual TIF rebate obligations, she estimated roughly $14,833,000 of capacity remaining (about 57.5 percent of capacity used). She told the council some communities aim to keep at least 20 percent of capacity uncommitted as a contingency.
Why it matters: the report frames how much borrowing room Independence has for future capital projects and how TIF rebates and forgivable loans affect capacity. Councilors asked clarifying questions about whether TIF‑related internal loans counted against capacity and how LMI (low‑to‑moderate income) set‑asides were handled; Burgerer explained which obligations count toward capacity and which do not.
Next steps: staff will continue monitoring market conditions and TIF collections as project timelines and construction loans move forward.
