The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
LDFA tax revenue begins to pay off
By Sandi Kasha, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: March 22, 2007
The Local Development Finance Authority may have disbanded last year, but Dexter Village and Scio Township are to finally reap its financial rewards.
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Paul Bishop, the authority's chairman and former village president, said the village will receive about $195,000 and Scio Township will receive $22,000 in over-captured tax increment financing revenue since the LDFA paid off its debts in 2003.
Village Manager Donna Dettling said that it's a nice windfall for the village, but said local officials haven't yet determined what the money will be used toward.
"It will more than likely go into the general fund account and council will decide how the money will be handled," she said.
Bishop said Washtenaw County will receive about $84,000 and Washtenaw Community College will get about $52,000. The LDFA was established in 1987 to pave the way for the Dexter Business and Research Park that was completed in 1988.
Dexter's government was experiencing a financial crisis and losing its industrial tax base until the initiation of the LDFA, the first in the state's history.
Bishop had to rally support in Lansing when the Michigan Municipal League recommended the new method of capturing tax increment financing revenue only be used by cities.
Bishop received support and the village purchased 127 acres at the cost of $444,500 off Dan Hoey Road, annexing the property from Scio Township.
The industrial park was an $8 million undertaking and in 1987 the village managed to secure a $750,000 grant and $800,000 no-interest loan from the state Department of Commerce. The money allowed the LDFA to purchase the property and build the needed infrastructure.
The LDFA has been considered an important role in stabilizing Dexter's economy. It was established as a way for Dexter to capture tax increment financing outside its Downtown Development Authority boundaries and ensuring a positive fiscal future for the village.
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