The city council approved a tax increment financing, or TIF, district in March to fund a six-story parking structure downtown. Here is what that means in practice.
Under the arrangement, property tax revenue generated by new development within the district boundary is redirected, for 20 years, toward paying off bonds issued for the garage, rather than flowing to the general fund, schools, or the library district.
Supporters say the structure pays for itself through growth it enables. Critics, including the county library board, say it locks in two decades of foregone revenue for services with no vote from the taxing bodies that lose out.
Groundwork built a short explainer, below, walking through how the numbers work and who is affected.