SIBLEY, Iowa -- Following a fourth meeting on the subject Tuesday, the Osceola County Board of Supervisors voted to postpone its decision of whether to use Tax Increment Financing (TIF) on local wind farms to fund county projects.
The board answered comments and questions from a group of about 10 concerned citizens, and determined it would need more information before voting on a final resolution.
Some Harris residents and officials in the Harris-Lake Park Community School District have spoken out against the TIF, saying that while the issue won't affect the district's budget, tax payers in the district would save about $274 per $100,000 assessed value of their home per year if TIF is not used.
"We're going to fill our school budget," assured Superintendent Dennis Peters on Monday. "This is strictly a tax relief issue."
The issue is further complicated because though most of the wind turbines in question are located in the district, the entire district is not located in Osceola County.
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Judy Brueggeman, the H-LP elementary principal raised questions about how the supervisors would use the money.
"Here's the issue: We're supposed to trust you to not use (the TIF money)," she said.
Prior notice of a public meeting is required if TIF funds are going to be spent, board chair Darwin Beltman answered.
"The bottom line is, TIF is supposed to be used in the TIF district. What is the TIF district?" Judy Brueggeman continued, saying TIF cannot be used on agricultural land without the landowners' permission, according to Iowa Code. "If you guys want to go to court, that's where I'm at with it," she told the board. "I think you guys have started something that's going to have unintended consequences in our county."
Voting down TIF in favor of tax relief would be "a great deal for the whole county -- not just one area," added her husband Al Brueggeman, a farmer in Harris.
Using TIF in the district would allow for collection of some of the property tax paid by Florida Power and Light, the company that owns the wind turbines, which would in turn be used for county projects in the TIF district. The supervisors have said they don't have any specific project for which they intend to use the TIF funds, but that they want to have the mechanism in place for secondary road improvements and other costs.
"We don't have the money to fix the roads," said County Engineer Tom Snyder. "Most of the counties tiffing windmills, that's what they're looking at is road construction. We're just maintaining what we have."
Those from the Osceola County Extension said they preferred putting the money on the tax rolls, where the total valuation of the land would be as high as possible.
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"It's going to make a difference whether we continue on or not. If we don't see some money coming in we're going to cease to exist," extension chair Kent Rusche said.
"We would definitely raise the levies first before we'd TIF," Beltman said, adding the TIF funds would be used to finish off a potential project. "I think we can make this a win-win situation for everybody."
If the TIF is approved, collection would begin of 5 percent of the wind farms' taxable value, with the amount collected increasing 5 percent each year until 30 percent, or about $1.5 million, in fiscal year 2017.
If a TIF is not used, the taxes will go on the tax roles beginning this year and could provide tax relief to county residents.
There is also the option to combine the two, with a certain percentage of taxes going to a TIF fund and the remainder going to the tax roles, and several supervisors said they would be in favor of such a measure.
"My initial reaction to this is it just won't work," said supervisor Phil Bootsma. "I think the only way forward is a compromise."
Discussion on the issue will continue at future board meetings.
