Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
The Shawano Plan Commission on Wednesday approved creation of a new Tax Incremental Finance district that will make way for a manufacturing firm looking to locate in the city.
The firm was described as a converting business, but city officials have not said what the product is or named the company for reasons of confidentiality.
The business would occupy 15 acres of city-owned property in an undeveloped area north of County Road B, east of Waukechon Street and west of Industrial Drive, but the city is considering putting up to 100 acres into the new TIF district to accommodate the possibility of future business development.
The city will have to amend its comprehensive plan, which calls for multi-family zoning in that area; a zoning initially chosen because of its proximity to Hillcrest Primary School.
City Administrator Brian Knapp said the business would not be a “smokestack” type of industry but would occupy a “nice, block building” that would be aesthetically pleasing.
Mayor Lorna Marquardt said efforts to bring the business into the city have been going on since August with negotiations that included city officials and Shawano County Economic Progress Inc.
She said the company was looking at three states before settling on Wisconsin, then considered 10 Wisconsin counties before deciding on Shawano.
She said the business could employ up to 100 people over the next five years in well-paying jobs.
“I know we hear a lot about, ‘Can we get business to come to Shawano?’” Marquardt said. “It takes a lot. We need to offer a lot to get them here, and I think we all agree it’s worth the effort. It’s extremely exciting for the city of Shawano.”
TIF districts are areas where municipalities invest in infrastructure, such as sewer and water, to attract development where it might not otherwise occur, or to make improvements, such as eliminating blight. Whatever increase in tax revenue that results from development in those districts goes to paying back the debt the municipality incurred from making improvements to the district.
In this case, the district would allow the city to recoup the costs of road improvements to Engel Drive and installation of any utilities that might be necessary, Knapp said.
If it goes forward, it would be the city’s seventh TIF district.
The district would have to go to a public hearing before it would go to the Common Council for approval.
It would also need the approval of the Joint Review Board, which consists of representatives from the city, Shawano County, the Shawano School District, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and one at-large member.
Other taxing entities have to approve of the plan because they would not share in any additional revenue from new development in the district until the improvements are paid off.