GIBRALTAR SEEKING PERMISSION TO FINANCE WORKFORCE HOUSING WITH TAX INCREMENTAL DISTRICT

The Town of Gibraltar is working with state legislators to establish a Tax Incremental District (TID) in an effort to bring economic opportunities and affordable workforce housing to the area. 

TIDs are designated areas where all property taxes collected from improvements above the base land value are funneled to the municipality instead of splitting tax collections with other taxing jurisdictions – Door County, NWTC and the Gibraltar Area School District in this case. The town would then use the gains in property taxes to retroactively pay for debt or other costs associated with development projects and infrastructural improvements.

“We’ve been looking for ways to create housing that nurses, teachers, business owners and working professionals can buy,” said Gibraltar Town Administrator Travis Thyssen. “The cost of bringing sewer has been prohibitive and stopped this from happening. Creating a TID allows the town to support these housing initiatives.” 

The City of Sturgeon Bay has long used TIDs to fund new development, as has the Village of Sister Bay. State law also allows towns to establish TIDs if equalized taxable property is $500 million and the population is at least 3,500. Although the town’s equalized value is closer to $1 billion, its population is 1,086. Because the town does not meet the population criterion, it must seek an exemption from the state to form a TID. 

Town leaders have approached Rep. Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay) and Sen. André Jacque (R-De Pere) to ask for support and hope to have approval by the end of March. Public hearings and informational meetings will be held if the state grants the exemption.