MacIver News Minute: TIF Districts Raise Your Taxes

The MacIver Report: Wisconsin This Week

Tax increment financing. TIF. As in TIF districts. Just the sound of it is enough to put any taxpayer to sleep, and local officials like it that way. They tell you TIF is basically free money. We take out a loan, use the money to lure in new developments, and then we tax those new developments to pay back the loans. Brilliant – right? What they don’t tell you, is that new development increases the local tax levy… and new developments in TIF districts don’t pay into that tax levy – and so everyone else in town not in the TIF district has to make up the difference… that means higher property tax rates all around. The MacIver Institute has been warning you about this scam for years – but now Wisconsin’s legislative council has released a memo providing independent, non-partisan confirmation of this reality… That TIF districts raise property tax rates… by a lot. Now that’s a wake up call. Want to know how much TIF districts have jacked up your property taxes? Read MacIver's report here: https://www.maciverinstitute.com/2023/04/your-property-tax-bill-is-higher-because-of-tif-districts-legislative-council-confirms/