WILTON — A small gathering of voters approved adoption of a downtown redevelopment plan and a tax-increment financing district for a development program during a short special town meeting Tuesday.
They also agreed to amend the current TIF with Comfort Inn, one started in 2007. The amendment increases the length of the TIF to 30 years and expands the district to cover the field across from the Route 2 inn and the town-owned Wilton Tannery site west of the inn.
During public hearings on the two items prior to the meeting, John Holden, who has worked with the Downtown Committee to draft the districts and plan, explained how TIF districts are often used to target economic development.
When money is put into a property within the district, raising its value, the new tax revenues are kept in the TIF program. There’s no impact on existing tax values, only the new values, he said.
The program captures 100 percent of the new value for 30 years with the money going to the TIF program, Holden said.
The development program, adopted with the TIF district, defines annually the way the funds are spent. For improvements such as sidewalks or road cuts, the money already is there rather than needing to raise taxes, he said. There are 18 ways the town can choose to spend the money.
Selectmen can also negotiate agreements that rebate some of the new taxes to the owner who made the improvement, he said.
“It’s the only tool we have to help a community grow,” Selectman Tom Saviello said.
Establishment of the TIF also shelters the valuation from increases by the school, county and state. It’s a tax savings to create the district, he added.
The Downtown Revitalization Plan, created last May, is a necessary component for creation of the TIF District and Development Program.
Voters approved the plan and TIF district by a vote of 19-0.
“I’m looking forward to using it as a tool to attract people to the area,” Alison Hagerstrom, director of Greater Franklin Development Corporation, said.
With a vote of 19-0, voters also agreed to amend the Comfort Inn TIF.
Extending the time and properties makes the TIF more flexible. It allows the town to do other things with money generated under the TIF, Holden explained.
Hagerstrom sees it as an aid to help attract businesses to the tannery site or someone across the street from the inn, she said.
“Local towns don’t have many incentives,” she said. “This is a tool; it’s a positive thing.”
Funds for the town accumulated through the TIF agreement paid the cost for extension of the water and sewer lines to the inn property within three years, Selectman Terry Brann said.
Selectmen also appointed a new Downtown Committee to act in an advisory capacity to the board.
They’ll carry on the work, ensuring the plan doesn’t sit on the shelf, Town Manager Rhonda Irish said.
The board approved eight interested in serving, including Charles Ellis, Nancy Merrow, Ray Jacques, Stacey Damon, Jeff Chaisson, Betty Shibles, Susan Atwood and David Smith.
abryant@sunjournal.com
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