The Minden City Council will meet for a workshop to continue discussions about an economic development strategy that could help existing businesses and provide incentive to attract new business.
Set for 1 p.m., Thursday, March 3, council members will meet in the Pelican Conference Room at Minden City Hall to discuss Tax Increment Financing.
A Tax Increment Financing district, or TIF district, utilizes sales taxes, occupancy taxes, property taxes, or a combination thereof for existing and future development or finance infrastructure development.
Economic Development Director James Graham will present council members with a clearer picture of TIF districts he and Mayor Tommy Davis are proposing for the city. At the first workshop in January, Graham showed them a rough draft of what the districts would look like, but council members wanted to see a more defined line of where they will begin and end.
In Minden, the TIF districts would focus on commercial properties, developed and undeveloped, leaving neighborhoods and homes untouched where possible, also bypassing the need to call for an election to create the district.
A TIF district can be created without a vote of the people if no registered voters live in the district. If registered voters live in the district, it must be taken before the people.“In terms of Minden, the benefits are many,” Graham said in January. “It doesn’t rely on government funding. It doesn’t rely on the general fund. The increment must be spent to improve elements within the TIF district, and the results would be jobs, increased property values and increased property tax revenue.”
They will also discuss Payment In Lieu of Taxes, another economic development incentive program, where federal money is paid to local governments to help offset the loss of property taxes.