Many high-profile projects in Colorado have gotten help from tax increment financing
“City for Champions — four dreams of Colorado Springs civic leaders — could become reality through heavy use of development incentives known as tax increment financing.
The $250 million plan to build an Olympic museum, an indoor arena, a sports medicine clinic and an Air Force Academy visitor’s center would get off-the-ground with $145.5 million in bonds or loans that would be paid back with interest using a variety of tax increment financing sources.
According to a list of potential funding sources presented to the Colorado Economic Development Commission, the tax increment financing could come from both sales and property taxes collected by the state, the county and the city.
What is TIF?
TIF uses a portion of the additional sales tax or all of the new property tax generated by a development. That tax increment – or net new tax revenue – goes to the urban renewal authority established by municipalities to oversee TIF projects. The money is used to pay off bonds or reimburses the developer or developers of projects that must serve a public good such as improving public infrastructure, the remediation of pollution, or clearance of blighted properties.”
Schrader, Megan. The Gazette 16 December 2013.
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