DICKEYVILLE—The forward thinking and future preparations of the Dickeyville Village Board pays off as it now prepares for new businesses to take root in the village. A private developer is getting village assistance to help develop land along Hwy. 151 in Dickeyville.
Village clerk/treasurer Mary Lee Powell said the village annexed approximately 64 acres of land—located on both sides of Redbird Lane east of Dickeyville—owned by Jeff Kaiser to the village on May 11, 2011. Now Kaiser has plans to develop the property and has sought assistance in this venture from the village of Dickeyville.
By creating a tax incremental financing district (TID), the village is allowing Kaiser and other property owners within the 174-acre district to develop their properties to increase the tax base within the city. The taxes within the TID will remain the same for the duration of the TID, which will be open for 20 years. The increased assessed value will be collected and divided between the village and property owners to assist with future development of the properties and infrastructure within the TID.
The main reason for a TID is that the money raised from the increased increment in a tax incremental financing district will help pay the developer. Kaiser will have to pay to have the property developed, but he will recoup some of that money over the years.
“With a typical TID, the municipality owns the property that is being developed,” Powell said. “In this case, a private businessman owns the land. He is not, as a citizen, able to create this TID; it has to be a municipality.”
It is a pay as you go TID.
“Out of all of these people, Jeff Kaiser is the only one we know of who wants to develop,” Powell said. “But in order for him to develop, we have to do upgrades to the treatment plant. We had to put all of the properties in the TID to get down to the treatment plant.”
The TID is a mixed-use TID. Up to 35 percent of the land in the TID can be residential. Kaiser has his property zoned as industrial. Other portions of the TID are zoned business, industrial, agricultural, residential single family and industrial park. Only 12 percent of the village’s equalized value can be included in the TID.
Powell said properties for sale within the TID would be more desirable because of the tax increment assistance. All of the entities have to agree that they’re not going to take any increases in their taxes until the TID is paid for. The taxes will be set Jan. 1, 2015, and the first increments will be returned in 2016 to the properties that made improvements that year. As the increment increases, the difference of what the property owner has to pay for improvements and what was there before the project started will go into a separate account to help pay for the infrastructure. The village board has not negotiated the percentage property owners will get back for the improvements made to the properties. It will be determined later this month.
Property from the surrounding area was added to the TID because additional infrastructure would be needed to connect water and sewer from the village to the Kaiser property. There is no sewer line connecting the village’s lines to Kaiser’s property on the opposite side of Hwy. 151.
“When they put in Hwy. 151, our engineer had us put two tubes under the highway,” Powell said. “One will be water and one will be sewer. Thankfully he was thinking ahead at that time. The end of the sewer lines actually go to Swiss Colony and Sunset Lanes, then they have to pump it a short distance. We’ll need a whole new line to connect Kaiser’s property to the treatment plant.”
It has not been decided who is paying for the water and sewer line extensions. Developer and financial agreements are in the works. Their progress won’t hold up the TID.
“Everything water or sewer related has to be completely paid for by that utility,” Powell said. “This is another advantage of a TID. If it’s in the TID, the increment can help pay it. If it’s not, everybody’s water bills or sewer bills will reflect that amount because you have to make those payments.”
The Kaiser property will also need another well and lift station to assist the water and sewer needs in that area.
“This has to be one of the first things done,” Powell said.
The current lines would not be able to handle the wastewater flow that the village anticipates would be needed with the new development.
“There’s no way the village could have purchased this property,” Powell said. “They could have, but we would have been really strapped financially. [Kaiser is] looking at putting $7.7 million into the development. The village could not have done that.”
Powell said there is a state clause that allows the creation of the TID for a private developer: “But for the TID, Jeff Kaiser would not develop this land.”
“It just makes all of this more desirable, more marketable,” Powell said. “We had a meeting with everybody who is involved in these properties and everybody was here. They all agreed to go ahead and do it. We’ve tried to inform everybody and keep everybody up to speed as to what is going on.”
The first meeting to get the project going was held on April 19.
“The annexation has been done for a while, but the actual creation of the TID has not been,” Powell said. “The developer [Kaiser] contacted the village and wanted to start development.”
Powell said Kaiser has expressed interest in breaking ground this fall to start construction next spring. The village will need the water and sewer issues taken care of before then, a project that is estimated to cost $890,000.
Later this month the joint review board will approve the TID boundaries and the project plan. The plan commission and village board have both already approved the boundaries and the project plan. After approval from the joint review board, the project plan will be submitted to the Department of Revenue for final approval. Powell said the ruling should be provided to the village before the end of October.
“It benefits the whole area,” Powell said.
Powell said increases in housing will be needed as more people come to Dickeyville to work. Splinter Street would be expanded to allow four houses on each side. City services are bound to increase requiring another employee in the future. More fire protection will be needed because of the larger area within the city.
“When we built this new water tower, finished in 2003, we built a 250,000 gallon water tower to replace our 50,000 gallon water tower,” Powell said. “People thought we were nuts. The board, engineer and public works director saw that this could happen. We’re ready. It’s going to mean upgrades to the [wastewater] treatment plant down the line, but if Kaiser puts in anything chemical-related he has to treat that before it comes out of the plant.”
Changes were made to the comprehensive plan and zoning for the village.
“The foresight of the people on this board, once we knew Hwy. 151 was coming through, we could be whatever we wanted to be,” Powell said.
The village has had upfront costs for starting this TID, including $11,000 to the consulting firm Vierbicher’s and Associates as well as an engineer. Those expenses are TID-eligible once the increments start collecting.
“I just hope we’re ready for the growing pains,” Powell said. “You keep thinking is there anything we’re missing. You hear about communities that all of a sudden they’ve outgrown themselves and now have problems. We’re taking our time and reviewing everything.”
