China TIF committee completes recommendations on revising document

by Mary Grow

At their June 10 meeting, China’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Committee members completed recommendations on revising the document that governs the use of TIF funds. (See also the June 6 issue of The Town Line, p.8.)

They recommended deleting two accounts: the revolving loan fund intended to help businesses in town, which has been used only once, and the job training account, which has never been used.

They proposed adding an account, a second project at the causeway at the head of China Lake’s east basin. TIF money paid for previous improvements there: rebuilding the bridge across the lake’s major inlet stream, adding sidewalks and parking spaces and improving the boat landing.

The new project tentatively includes extending the sidewalk westward on the south (lake) side of the road, adding a floating dock from which people can fish and making improvements at the boat docks. Cost will be determined as soon as possible.

Committee members are aware that there is too little parking area for vehicles hauling boat trailers, but there is not space to expand the parking.

Committee members recommended increased funding for two existing projects that have regularly used all their allotments.

— The project named “Environmental Improvements,” which includes China Lake water quality, was listed to receive a maximum of $30,000 for each of the fiscal years 2024, 2025 and 2026. No amount was listed thereafter. Committee members recommended $50,000 a year until the TIF ends in 2045.
— The “Trails” project, which has funded trail work by the Four Seasons Club townwide and by the Thurston Park Committee in Thurston Park, was to receive not more than $65,000 a year through 2045. Committee members recommended $80,000 a year.

Funds to match grants, a different category from the projects, have not been spent, but committee members said they could be. That account has been accumulating at $15,000 a year; its allocation is scheduled to end June 30, 2026. Committee members recommended extending it to 2031.

The TIF enabling legislation says grants to a municipality or a plantation can be matched. One candidate for a match is the China Lake Association, its president, Stephen Greene, said. Committee member Jamie Pitney, a lawyer, is unsure whether the state Department of Economic and Community Development, the TIF program’s overseer, would approve a grant to an organization.

Committee members know approximately how much unallocated, and allocated but unspent, money is in the TIF program now. They calculated how much money they recommend transferring from unused accounts to overused ones. Combining the figures, they decided their recommendations for additional funding are financially feasible.

They further discussed estimates of FY 2024-25 TIF income. The income comes from taxes Central Maine Power Company pays on its transmission line that runs north-south through China and on its South China substation.

Each year’s TIF income therefore depends on two factors: the valuation of the CMP properties and the town’s tax rate, or mil rate (the amount of tax for each $1,000 of valuation). The valuation waits on completion of a review by the town’s assessor; after that work is finished, the assessor will recommend a range of tax rates to generate money to cover projected 2024-25 expenses.

Select board members will then set the rate. In 2023, they made the decision at their Aug. 28 meeting, setting the current 12.26 mil rate ($12.26 for each $1,000 of valuation).

TIF committee members scheduled their next meeting for Monday evening, Aug. 5. They expect by then to have firmer numbers on most of the program, even without the 2024-25 tax rate.

Their goal is to present a revised TIF document to China voters at the polls on Nov. 5. If voters approve it, the appropriate state officials’ approval is also needed, a process likely to take several months.