New plan seeks to capture funding for improvements in downtown St. Joseph

St. Joseph City Commissioners have advanced a plan to establish a new Downtown Development Authority Tax Increment Financing district, which will enable the DDA to build up a reserve of funds for improvements in the area.

This past week, commissioners held their first reading on the DDA TIF plan with Development Director Kelly Ewalt telling them what the TIF will do.

“ A TIF works by recording the current or base level property tax in a designated area, a nd as those property values increase over time through new development or improvements, the incremental growth in a property tax revenue is captured by the DDA,” Ewalt said. “ Those dollars are then reinvested into the area, which