HANCOCK COUNTY — Leaders in Hancock County have created a district that will capture certain tax funds, but Cumberland officials who are eyeing the same territory say the move will hinder growth in the area.
Hancock County commissioners Marc Huber and John Jessup voted in favor of a resolution earlier this week to establish the debated tax increment financing district in the western part of the county.
A TIF district captures tax revenue from new development, which can be used to fund infrastructure improvements in that area and spur economic development.
The targeted area is mostly south of Interstate 70 to north of U.S. 40 and between County Roads 700W and 525W. It includes a stretch of Mt. Comfort Road — part of a corridor that is drawing development and that is expected to continue doing so in the future. The TIF district also encompasses an area just south of I-70 that Hancock Health is developing and to which it hopes to attract other developments.
April Fisher, Cumberland town manager, told the Daily Reporter that the Mt. Comfort corridor is going to be “a key component in the future of Hancock County” and that Cumberland has a stake in that area because it provides wastewater service throughout part of it.
“It’s important to make sure things are done right there,” Fisher said. “Having the TIF district there and as large as it is just makes it harder for us to plan how to expand that infrastructure and how we’re going to plan for the future.”
Fisher said Cumberland government is disappointed in the county commissioners’ decision, adding officials feel they had valid concerns that weren’t completely vetted.
“…[B]ut it’s a county matter; it’s up to the county whether or not to pass it,” she continued. “We understand it, we respect the process and we understand that it passed, so at this point we’ll do what we can do to best work with the county when it comes to development in that area.”
Anna Pea, a Cumberland Town Council member, told the Hancock County Area Plan Commission earlier this summer that the town likely wouldn’t be willing to extend sewer service into the TIF district if annexation wouldn’t be possible, and the prospect of annexation would be hampered by the new tax revenue getting captured for TIF purposes.
Huber told the Daily Reporter that he supports the new TIF district because of its ability to help Hancock Health’s plans and ideas for south of I-70.
“That is going to spark some development, some need for infrastructure, utilities, roads and improvements — a vast array of things out there,” he said. “It just made sense to TIF that, to try to capture some dollars to help develop that.”
Huber added he sympathizes with Cumberland’s concerns.
“If I was a representative for Cumberland, I’d be arguing the same thing; but I’m a representative for the entire county,” he said, adding he feels there are opportunities for the town to still be able to serve that territory and even capture future TIF funds to help develop the town’s infrastructure.
The Hancock County Redevelopment Commission, the county’s TIF authority, approved the district earlier this year. Cumberland’s concerns, however, resulted in a compromise that proposed moving the district’s western boundary from County Road 700W easst to Mt. Comfort Road. The county plan commission approved the compromise in May, but the commissioners, who opposed the moved boundary, voted it down. In June, the plan commission approved the district as it stands today, and the commissioners gave the final approval for earlier this week.
