DDA Weighs Uncertain Future

By Beth Milligan | Oct. 25, 2024

With two proposals on the ballot that could affect the future of tax increment financing (TIF) in Traverse City, officials at the Traverse City Downtown Development Authority (DDA) are undertaking a tricky balancing act – continuing operations to keep downtown running as usual while preparing for a potential existential upheaval if TIF 97 isn’t extended beyond its planned 2027 expiration.

Here is the Outcome: In Traverse City, voters approved two ballot amendments that will significantly impact how tax increment financing (TIF) functions in the city. Proposal 1 – which passed by a roughly 56-44 percent margin – will require the creation, amendment, or extension of any TIF plan to go to a public vote. The requirement will affect both DDA and brownfield TIF plans. Proposal 2, which passed by a 54-46 percent margin, negates any action taken by city officials on downtown’s TIF 97 plan after January 1, 2024 unless that action is submitted to voters first. However, city commissioners have not yet taken any action on TIF 97 this year and would now need to submit the plan’s extension to voters anyway under Proposal 1. The first regularly scheduled election where a TIF 97 extension could be put to voters is November 2025.