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Indiana mayors ask state lawmakers to stop proposing legislation to restrict TIF districts

Brandon Smith
/
IPB News
A panel of mayors spoke at the 2021 Dentons Legislative Conference. One of the things they asked Indiana state lawmakers was to not propose legislation the would restrict the use of TIF districts.

State lawmakers have repeatedly proposed legislation that would restrict local governments' ability to use Tax Increment Finance (TIF) districts to improve communities and attract businesses. A panel of mayors from around the state recently talked about the benefits of the districts and the need for them.

The economic development tool is used by local governments to fund projects that will attract businesses and jobs to a specific area. TIFs take a portion of sales and property taxes from an area or business and put it into a special fund to offset some of a project's costs for developers.

A study by Ball State economists in 2016 was critical of TIF districts and said they were diverting as much as $320 million annually from other local services including schools.

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Last month, we welcomed Samantha Horton to our station. She is Indiana Public Broadcasting reporter, mainly reporting on business and economic issues in the States of Indiana for WBAA. After graduated from Evansville University with a triple majors degree (International studies, Political science and Communication), Samantha worked for a Public Radio at Evansville for three years, and then she joined WBAA because she wanted to take a bigger role on reporting. So far she enjoyed working in WBAA as business and economy reporter.