CROTHERSVILLE — Soon after a redevelopment commission was established in Crothersville in the fall of 2016, a map was created outlining a tax increment financing district in the town.

In early 2017, that was approved by the commission.

It wasn’t until recently, however, that the current commission learned a couple of pieces were missed during the establishment process and didn’t make their way to county officials.

“So the county was never told there was a TIF area created, and then thus, it was never put into the system,” Parker Criswell with Reedy Financial Group told the commission during a recent meeting. “Inevitably, all of the parcels that were supposed to be in a TIF area, they were by word of mouth, but they were never actually technically put in the system.”

The property taxes paid by taxpayers have been going to underlying units, including the town, school and other entities, instead of the redevelopment commission.

That’s why it’s now necessary for the commission to reestablish the TIF district.

A TIF district involves capturing tax money from new industrial development or increased property values in the district and setting it aside to fund infrastructure or redevelopment or provide incentives to promote economic development in a community rather than being distributed to other taxing units.

A TIF gives local governmental entities a chance to complete public safety or quality of life projects that attract investments, which increase the overall property value. The district also could attract capital investment and new residents. It’s a way to get revenue without increasing property taxes.

During the recent meeting, the commission approved a resolution declaring an economic development area and an allocation area in Crothersville. The next step will be to have a public hearing to hear questions and comments and then consider approval of a confirmatory resolution.

The public hearing has been set for 6:30 p.m. Sept. 21 at the town hall, 111 E. Howard St., Crothersville, followed by a special meeting.

The original TIF boundary from the northern part of town to the area of Main Street covered from U.S. 31 or Armstrong Street west to the railroad tracks. From that point south, it stretched from U.S. 31 over to Kovener Street, Park Avenue and Bethany Road and ended just south of the industrial park.

Criswell said he pulled that parcel list of targeted areas and wanted to get the current commission’s input on getting the TIF area reestablished.

“It’s always better to have a more targeted TIF area. That way, we don’t bring in any big parcels that have already had their growth happen and that maybe moving in the future might see some decreases in value just due to aging of the building and such,” he said.

The economic development area will encompass parcels on the list, mainly Aisin Drivetrain Inc., Aisin Chemical LLC and other commercial property on the south side of the town and buildings in the heart of the town.

“An EDA is where the redevelopment commission can spend all of your money, so moving in the future when you guys do start capturing values, that’s where you’ll be able to spend it, be it on new sidewalks or façade grants or maybe additional roads as new companies locate within the industrial park south of town,” Criswell said. “Any of those would be permissible uses for TIF revenues within that area.”

The allocation area involves looking at the parcel list and targeting which investments in the town the commission wants to capture.

Criswell said there are several residential parcels on the list, and TIF can’t capture on those properties.

“Obviously, with Aisin Drivetrain’s announcement for a $55 million investment to the town of Crothersville, we want to make sure that’s one of the parcels that’s within this list. That will immediately generate large TIF dollars for the redevelopment commission,” he said. “We can hone in on this parcel list. That way, whenever we do finalize the establishment of this allocation area, we’re positioning the town for the best results moving forward.”

Criswell also recommended including exempt parcels, mainly those owned by the town with no property taxes being paid on them, because they have zero value.

“You can’t decrease past them, so let’s say the town owns a building right now that down the road you guys sell to a developer or taxpayer to then flip and turn into a shop or something. That becomes taxable, thus could capture any growth,” he said. “Having exempt parcels in there isn’t going to necessarily hinder you by any means, and then the commercial parcels, those would be the only ones that I would maybe look at including.”

If the commission learns of any future projects coming to the town, Criswell said those parcels can be added to the TIF area so additional growth can be captured. There also is a residential TIF that could be created if a multifamily subdivision is built.

Once the second resolution is passed to reestablish the TIF district, Criswell said the commission could start collecting property tax revenues in the spring of 2023.

From the size of Aisin Drivetrain’s recent investment, he said the commission has the potential to begin collecting more than $150,000 and even upwards of $300,000 in property tax revenue.

“I know there’s also abatement involved with this investment, so obviously, it will be subject to once that abatement starts to roll off, but I will say that from what I’ve seen as far as numbers on my end and working with Jeff (Lorenzo, attorney) and Danieta (Foster, Crothersville clerk-treasurer), the town is in a good position when it comes to making sure we create this TIF area right,” Criswell said.

“I think the redevelopment commission will be making more decisions on what to spend on money and what not to spend money on in the near future,” he said.