Spring Break
Council approves TIF grants
Joe Astrouski / City Editor
Issue date: 3/23/09 Section: News
The Charleston City Council approved eight new tax increment finance grants, worth up to $47,900, at last weeks meeting, said City Clerk Deborah Miller.
Under tax increment financing, increased tax revenue from businesses in the downtown TIF district are put into a separate fund to support improvements to those businesses.
The council's decision brings the number of TIF grants approved so far this year to 17, worth about $110,000. In total, the council is scheduled to consider 27 TIF grants, said Mayor John Inyart.
"Most of these (upgrades) are structural," Inyart said. "I wanted the money to go to increasing the lives of the buildings themselves."
One of the grants, worth up to $4,000, would help fund repairs to the exterior brick walls of the building that houses Mac's Uptowner at 623 Monroe Ave.
Another grant approved by the council gives $10,000 to repair and paint the buildings of Charleston Lumber co., 202 Sixth St.
All of the grants approved this year have been matching grants, in which business owners must provide some or most of the funding for their projects.
The council also voted to put a newly proposed city budget on file for public inspection, Miller said, adding that the council will vote on the budget April 21.
The budget applies to the new fiscal year beginning May 1, Miller said.
Inyart said city officials anticipated a drop in city funds when they drafted the budget.
"It is a balanced budget," he said. "It is a conservative budget, estimating that our revenues will take a hit."
Joe Astrouski can be reached at 581-7942 or at jmastrouski@eiu.edu.
Under tax increment financing, increased tax revenue from businesses in the downtown TIF district are put into a separate fund to support improvements to those businesses.
The council's decision brings the number of TIF grants approved so far this year to 17, worth about $110,000. In total, the council is scheduled to consider 27 TIF grants, said Mayor John Inyart.
"Most of these (upgrades) are structural," Inyart said. "I wanted the money to go to increasing the lives of the buildings themselves."
One of the grants, worth up to $4,000, would help fund repairs to the exterior brick walls of the building that houses Mac's Uptowner at 623 Monroe Ave.
Another grant approved by the council gives $10,000 to repair and paint the buildings of Charleston Lumber co., 202 Sixth St.
All of the grants approved this year have been matching grants, in which business owners must provide some or most of the funding for their projects.
The council also voted to put a newly proposed city budget on file for public inspection, Miller said, adding that the council will vote on the budget April 21.
The budget applies to the new fiscal year beginning May 1, Miller said.
Inyart said city officials anticipated a drop in city funds when they drafted the budget.
"It is a balanced budget," he said. "It is a conservative budget, estimating that our revenues will take a hit."
Joe Astrouski can be reached at 581-7942 or at jmastrouski@eiu.edu.
The Daily Eastern News encourages on-topic, civil discussion on its articles posted online. It is our policy not to screen comments before they are posted or edit them after they are posted. However, we reserve the right to remove comments that are off-topic, malicious, libelous or include excessive foul language. The DEN also reserves the right to turn off all comments on any story it deems necessary.
Comments violating copyright law will also be removed.
Users who repeatedly violate this policy will be banned from commenting.
If you have any questions on our comment policy or wish to report a comment that you feel violates these standards, please e-mail a link to the article to our Online Editor at DENNews.com@gmail.com.
Be the first to comment on this story