By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

ETNA GREEN — The Etna Green Town Council accepted proposals with consulting firm Baker Tilly on establishing a tax increment finance (TIF) residential district in the area.

Greg Fitzloff, business development partner with the Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO), attended the meeting and recommended that council create a letter of engagement and enter a contract for services with Baker Tilly. The letter would allow Baker Tilly to begin tests and studies on the area where the TIF district would be established.

Discussions on establishing a TIF district in the Etna Green area have been ongoing since October 2021.

County Redevelopment Commission President and County Council Vice-President Joni Truex also attended the council meeting to provide further insight on working with Baker Tilly. The redevelopment commission is working with Baker Tilly to create a TIF district in the area of the former South Shore golf course in Syracuse.

Baker Tilly would serve as Etna Green’s financial advisor during the process of establishing a TIF district. This would be done under the auspices of the county’s redevelopment commission.

The first part of the work Baker Tilly would complete is a “one percent test.”

“Less than one percent of the homes in Etna Green have to have been built longer than one year ago,” said Fitzloff. “It’s not a tough test to pass.”

The second part would involve a fiscal impact study, in which Baker Tilly would develop a model of what the TIF district would create in terms of revenue, as well as its impact on taxing units in the town.

Fitzloff said the one percent test would hopefully be completed by the council’s October meeting.

In other business, Town Attorney Nick Jacobs provided council with an update on a condemned residence at 127 N. Walnut St. A mortgage company with interest in the property has not returned any calls from Jacobs.

Jacobs said an alternative approach to resolving the property’s issues is for the council to take matters into their own hands by creating a new ordinance regarding unsafe buildings. Council requested Jacobs outline an ordinance.

Council’s next meeting is at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13.