BATH — Bath City Council will vote Wednesday to decide whether to approve next year’s tax increment financing budget to fund economic development projects including sidewalk construction, electric vehicle charging stations and a downtown building façade improvement program.
The city has three tax increment financing agreements — the Bath Iron Works agreement, the Wing Farm agreement, and the Downtown agreement. TIFs are a common financing tool municipalities use to pay for public projects. It essentially funnels any increased tax revenue in a defined district — such as a stretch of downtown or at a new business park — toward specific purposes, which can range from infrastructure upgrades to paying down debts, without increasing property taxes across the board.
If the budgets are passed, the largest TIF deal (with Bath Iron Works) will bring in revenue of $1,549,298. $827,043 of that will go toward debt payments, and the remainder goes to pay for a variety of expenses, with $20,495 left as surplus.
As in previous years, that agreement pays for a portion of the salaries of a few city officials. The agreement also includes a contribution to Main Street Bath, a nonprofit organization that works closely with the city to develop the downtown area.
The total revenue the BIW TIF decreased by $190,506 from last year, which Juli Millett, Bath’s finance director, said she believes has something to do with Bath’s most recent revaluation.
In August, Bath released the results of the first citywide property revaluation of the city since 2005, which showed property values increased 14%.
The remaining money is budgeted for a variety of economic development projects and public works projects, from brochures to benches to fireworks. Some of the larger line items include $100,000 for the design and construction of the Elm Street Plaza and $29,000 to match a grant to install two electric vehicle charging stations at the train station and visitor center on Commerical Street.
Assistant City Manager Marc Meyers said the city is working with a consultant to draft a plan for the small plaza on the corner of Elm and Front streets.
“We always thought it was an underutilized space,” said Meyers. “We’ll have more of an idea of what that plaza could look like after working with the consultant.”
The budget also allocates $100,000 to match a grant the city received to organize the Downtown Façade Program. The program was designed to assist owners of commercial and mixed-use buildings in painting, repairing architectural elements, and cleaning their building’s facade. Once the work is complete, the owners and city split the costs.
“(The program) is a great use of funds allocated for economic development projects because it gives everyone a chance to spruce up their buildings and makes the downtown as a whole look nicer,” said Sally Johnstone, Maine Street Bath vice president and member of the Economic Development Committee.
The city council will hold a preliminary vote on the proposed TIF budgets at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
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