Merging walkability into tax increment financing: Champaign-IL downtown fringe TIF district case demonstration

The use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) in the United States achieved enough time to dismiss the policy of the label “new” or “innovative”, but despite the variety of studies, TIF’s extended possibilities still welcome exploration. With that in mind, urban planning practitioners can push for walkability analyses in TIF districts, accounting for the walkability impact associated with the many developments that happen inside its boundaries. This knowledge can support scenario planning, provide information to negotiate with developers and help the quest for walkable spaces overall. Moreover, planners can resort to new methodologies that investigate the correlation between walkability and real estate variables, estimating the walkability premiums for the developments inside TIF districts. This can lead to studies that identify the walkability component in projected assessed values, and, consequently, in projected property tax revenues. Planners can use this information to better design the TIF financials, possibly connecting walkability related revenues and walkability related expenditures. In a case demonstration on Champaign-IL Downtown Fringe TIF, the use of the State of Place methodology revealed a district with significant connectivity infrastructure for pedestrians, but still not sharing the economic vitality of the Downtown Core area. Additionally, a forecasting exercise showed that an announced \$95M mixed-use development inside the Fringe TIF would generate an extra of $ 150,000 in annual property tax revenue, only because of its walkability impact.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.U.P.

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Urban Planning

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2017

Author dc:creator

• Martins Da Costa, Marcus Vinicius

Contributors dc:contributor

• Doussard, Marc

• Tax Increment Financing
• Walkability

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2017 Marcus Costa

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/98421

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/98421