In addition to providing assistance for the developer of the Great River Residences project, the TIF district would generate funding that could be used for several other uses not directly related to the Great River Residences, including $2 million for a downtown parking ramp and street/infrastructure improvements, $500,000 for waterfront improvements and $500,000 for use by the city’s Community Development Authority to assist in redevelopment projects within a half-mile radius of the TIF district boundaries.

The TIF district boundaries surround strictly city-owned land to be sold to Three Sixty Real Estate Solutions for the residential/commercial project that include the 200 and 300 blocks of Court Street and most of the 400 block.

With a TIF district, the property assessment is frozen at the start and the taxes on all the increased value of the property that comes from new development — the “increment” — goes into a fund that can be used for a variety of purposes determined in the establishment of the TIF district. The taxes captured include not only the city levy but the amount that would go to all the other taxing jurisdictions, too, including school district, county and technical college district.

There can be some risk involved in TIF districts if the municipality makes big investments in infrastructure to encourage development and then that development doesn’t happen as quickly as expected. That leaves the municipality having to pay off bonds issued to pay for the infrastructure out of its general fund instead of the TIF district proceeds.

Onalaska’s new TIF district is less risky because the developer is paying the $1.6 million for site preparation and utility work upfront and getting repaid over the course of nine to 11 years from the proceeds of the TIF district. The city is not out anything if the development doesn’t happen as scheduled.

“The pay-as-you-go option is for the council’s benefit,” said Sean Lentz of Ehlers, the consultant that helped the city with the TIF district plan. “If the revenue isn’t there, you’re not obligated to make those payments.”

The council in December approved a general development plan for the $16.4 million Great River Residences project that would involve four buildings with 98 housing units, including a four-story, 60-unit apartment building, two townhome buildings and a two-story building that would have retail on the lower level and studio apartments on top. A development agreement for the project is expected to come before the council in April.

While the Great River Residences developer is expected to be paid off within 11 years at most, the city’s plan for the TIF district calls for the capture of taxes on the increment for 27 years, through 2047. Ehlers estimates that the district would generate a little more than $6.7 million in 27 years, with annual increment starting at about $200,000 in the second year and ending at $322,608.

Although the city has approved no specific projects to be paid for by the TIF district after Three Sixty is fully reimbursed for its investment, the TIF district plan includes $2 million that could be used for a downtown parking ramp and other street work and $500,000 for enhancement of the Great River Landing waterfront recreational area.

The plan also envisions giving $500,000 to the city’s Community Development Authority. That money could be used for grants and/or a revolving loan fund to encourage redevelopment projects or new businesses within a half-mile of the TIF district boundaries.

Final approval for the TIF district is required from a Joint Review Board made up of representatives from all the taxing jurisdictions that will meet Feb. 27.

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Project Blue Light, a private-public partnership, is an extension of the Safe-Cam Project, a network of 32 surveillance cameras monitoring the city’s downtown that launched early this year to aid investigations and deter crime.

Police encourage all business and property owners to participate, especially those positioned between downtown and college campus areas for student safety, La Crosse police Assistant Chief Rob Abraham said.

“As we have found, video has been instrumental in helping us solve crimes,” he said. “This helps us become more efficient and effective.”

There is no fee to tie into the network, but surveillance cameras must use Stratocast brand software to make them compatible with the department’s system.

Three Sixty Real Estate Solutions was the first to join the department’s network last week, granting police access to two surveillance cameras monitoring a 20-unit apartment building at 1414 Pine St.

“This is about working smarter as a community,” business owner Marvin Wanders said.

The software allows officers to view live feeds and stores surveillance footage so police can retrieve it immediately when necessary, Wanders said. In other cases, police must track down owners to review video, a time-consuming process.

Wanders plans to add additional cameras to the network and encourages other business and property owners to do the same.

“If we can do anything as a community to make officers more efficient, it benefits all of us,” he said. “The safer community we have, the more value there is for everyone.”

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