UPDATE: Western Publishing TIF District Dissolved

UPDATE: The Village Board voted to dissolve the TIF at their meeting Tuesday night. Village administered Mark Janiuk said if there would have been money collected in the TIF, they would have had to return it to the taxing districts. However, there wasn't any increment created.

ORIGINAL STORY: The tax incremental finance district for the old Western Publishing building on Erie Street could be dissolved Tuesday night.

The village board is considering the move, which would likely send the tax revenue collected to pay for infrastructure improvements on the site, at 5945 Erie St., to the Village of Caledonia, Racine County, Racine Unified and Gateway. 

Board members talked about dissolving the TIF district at a village board meeting in December, but decided against it because the real estate agent told the board she had a potential buyer for the property.

A TIF district is a development tool municipalities can use to attract business. The way it works is that a financing district is created and a base value of that district is established by the taxing jurisdictions. The increased value of the property is still charged at the base rate, but the district uses the increased tax revenue to pay for the infrastructure projects.

This means those taxing entities— the village, county, RUSD and Gateway—receive the amount of tax revenue they did before the district was created, and during the 20-year life of the district, tax revenue on new development pays off the infrastructure costs.

The building was supposed to be knocked down and developed into high-end condominiums a few years ago, but the $14.1 million project never got off the ground and has sat vacant for years.

John Brodek, a Racine lawyer, owns the property.