Topeka has two TIF districts, but there may be more to come

The city has two existing TIF districts.

Those are:

• The College Hill TIF District, located generally to the south of S.W. 17th and Washburn Avenue, which was formed in 2006 and hasn’t done as well as city officials had hoped it would.

• The Wheatfield Village TIF District at the northwest corner of S.W. 29th and Fairlawn Road, which remains under construction.

Kansas law allows government entities to create TIF districts at the request of developers to help offset development costs. Developers pay off costs over a period of up to 20 years using the increase in property tax and sales tax revenues.
The general purpose of a TIF is to help a project happen where it otherwise wouldn’t have, Councilwoman Karen Hiller said this past week.

She expressed optimism about the future of TIF districts in Topeka, which she said hasn’t seen much development over the past 50 years.