Quote Originally Posted by Pete View Post
^

There are instances where property tax and sales tax are merely refunded directly to the business.

Such as the Skirvin and soon to be FNC and Wheeler District.
I understand that is accurate, but especially for the Skirvin and FNC, it should really be viewed differently. Having a TIF "district" for one building goes to show the importance of the building in OKC as a whole, and TIF just happens to be the best mechanism for the city to contribute to the cause. They're also the 2 most "Duh!" instances of when to use TIF.

Wheeler is obviously in a different category because we're not preserving a building and we don't really know what we're going to have with the district. In these instances (which will probably also happen in the CO-OP), I feel like the legitimate complaint is not how it happens (money going back into developers pockets), but the length of time it is in effect. If we limit the Wheeler TIF to 15-20 years, that incentivizes the district coming together a bit quicker in order to capture those gains, and doesn't leave the future area without a large tax-source. And if you want to keep it at 25 years, tie the amounts to building certain public amenities etc.

On a completely different note, do receivers of TIF have to pay Federal/State income taxes on those amounts?