Project Echo in Anderson may get TIF designation for 197 acres

The city of Anderson is pumping up its stash of economic sweeteners, possibly to continue wooing Nestle Corp. to build a plant in Anderson.

Tuesday, the Anderson Redevelopment Commission will consider extending the city’s tax increment fund (TIF) district to include 197 acres west of The Flagship business park.

A TIF captures any increase in property taxes in such a district and dedicates those funds to economic development.

That land was annexed into the city in February as part of the economic development venture Project Echo, now widely considered to be a Nestle Corp. plant.

Extending the TIF district paves the way for the city to offer an economic goody bag.

“We’ll be asked to add to the TIF district so we can accommodate this Project Echo,” Commission President Mark Lamey said. “I’m all for it. I think this would be a great boost for the community.”

The city plans to extend to the 197-acre plot sewers and electrical capabilities, all using TIF money.

The city will also be able to use TIF money to offer the company steeply reduced loans supported by bond issues, paid in the short term by TIF money and in the long term by taxes generated from the business.

“It would be the perfect example of what a TIF should be used for,” Deputy Economic Development Director Linda Dawson said.

A TIF district is a geographic area that city officials prove is blighted to the Anderson Redevelopment Commission and the City Council.

One-fifth of Anderson is in a designated TIF district. The districts were created in 1990, except for the Flagship Enterprise Center, which was added in 2000.

To determine how much goes into TIF, the city takes the assessed valuation of the commercial property in those areas when they were designated TIF districts. Any taxes on valuation over and above what was there in 1990 is captured in the TIF fund.

Right now, about $2.5 million a year flows into the fund, and the five-member Redevelopment Commission decides how to spend it.