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Commissioners advance preliminary TIF term sheet for Liberty Place subdivision
Summary
Clark County commissioners voted to move forward with a preliminary Tax Increment Financing (TIF) term sheet for the Liberty Place development, starting statutory notice and public hearings and allowing negotiations with schools and the township over compensation and bond terms.
The Board of Clark County Commissioners voted Feb. 25 to advance a preliminary tax-increment financing plan for Liberty Place, a proposed development of about 159 single-family homes in Moorefield Township.
Ethan Harris, community development staff, said the preliminary term sheet outlines a 30-year structure with 100% capture and an additional 5 mills assessed on homes in the development "to make the school district whole." He said the plan would use a portion of payments in lieu of taxes (PILOTs) to reimburse the developer, Darp, LLC, for eligible public infrastructure costs.
Pat Williams of Darp said the developer has already paid legal fees and wants clarity on the process. Ron Sweeney, Darp, said the company will not receive the full bond amount and that the majority of the bond proceeds will pay infrastructure: "Everything Darp gets from the bonds will go back into the infrastructure," he said.
Commissioners and county counsel described the next steps: staff will notify the Northeastern Local School District, Springfield-Clark Career Technology Center and township trustees; the schools have 45 days to respond and a public hearing is expected in April with commission review on May 6. Chief Legal Counsel Beau Thompson explained the schools may accept compensation or risk receiving the same funding as if they do not act and that negotiations with the township and schools will occur over the coming weeks.
Commissioner Richard Lohnes, who said he has not supported a TIF in his prior 12 years on the board, raised concerns about adding 5 mills and its effect on taxpayers; Commissioner Charles Patterson noted the additional millage applies only to future homeowners in the development rather than existing homeowners. The board approved Resolutions 2026-0160 and 2026-0161 to begin the TIF process by formalizing the term sheet and starting statutory notice procedures.
The action moves the project into the statutory public-notice and hearing phase; it does not by itself establish the incentive districts or finalize any agreement.
