Public Policy Forum researcher Ryan Horton to discuss trends in tax incremental financing (TIF) usage

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Jerry Slaske

Public Policy Forum

414-276-8240

jslaske@publicpolicyforum.org

Public Policy Forum researcher Ryan Horton to di= scuss

trends in tax incremental financing (TIF) usage =

2005 Wisconsin Housing Conferenc= e to focus on future of TIF

as community developm= ent tool

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – May 10, 2005 – Ryan Horton, a researcher at the Milwaukee-based Public Policy Forum who recently authored a widely circulated report on tax incremental financing (TIF) in southeastern Wisconsin, “Keeping up wi= th the neighbors?”, will participate in the 2005 Wisconsin Housing Conference on Friday, May 13 at the Fluno Center for Executive Education in Madison.

Horton, a session III (TIF:= Pros and Cons) panelist, 1:30 – 3:00 p.m., will deliver the presentation, “TIF utilization in southeastern Wisconsin.”

Horton’s findings in = the recently published report from the Public Policy Forum found the following:

Wis= consin’s legislature sent mixed messages in its 2003 TIF law reforms. The law eased restrictions on= urban development TIFs, but also passed measures to ease the use of TIF for agricultural lands.

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TIF usage in Wisconsin is decentralized. The seven-county southeastern Wisconsin’s TIF utilization rate is lower than in the rest of the state.

TIF is one of the most important factors in locat= ion decisions with developers.

Minneapolis and = Chicago far outstrip the city and county of Milw= aukee in utilizing TIF as a development tool;

TIF usage in Milwaukee, Racine, and Ken= osha – the major cities in southeastern Wisconsin – was lower than = in those cities’ neighboring suburbs;

“TIF has become so pervasive = that cities and villages cannot think of investment in large-scale infrastructure without it,” says Horton. “Villages and cities in 70 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties now have active TIF districts. Neverth= eless, it’s used more aggressively in other states.”

Horton’s report “Keeping up with the neighbors?” can be found on the Forum̵= 7;s Web site at www.publicpolicyf= orum.org.

The conference is sponsored= by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Center for Real Estate; Wisconsin Housing a= nd Economic Development Authority, and State of Wisconsin Bureau of Housing, Department of Commerce.

Milwaukee-based Public Poli= cy Forum – which was established in 1913 as a local government watchdog –= ; is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing the effectiven= ess of government and the development of southeastern Wisconsin through objective research of regional public policy issues.

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