C-Street stakeholders consider TIF projects

Commercial Street stakeholders are slated to consider potential uses for hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax increment financing funds.

The city of Springfield's economic development team scheduled a 5 p.m. meeting June 15 at White River Brewing Co. to discuss projects that could be funded, according to a news release. The C-Street TIF currently has a balance of more than $680,000.

“Commercial Street residents, property owners and business owners have identified more than $5 million in public improvement projects that they’d like to see on C-Street,” said Sarah Kerner, the city's economic development director, in the release. “The purpose of this annual meeting is to identify and prioritize projects to be funded with TIF revenues.”

Potential projects include public parking lots, public art, upgrades to the Footbridge Plaza and banking funds for the Commercial Club Building rehabilitation project.

“We also have options to bank all of the revenues for future projects or bank a portion of it and spend a portion,” Kerner added in the release.

City Council has the ultimate say on the use of the funds, based on stakeholder recommendations.

The C-Street TIF last year funded $523,000 in alleyway and parking lot upgrades, according to past reporting. The TIF was enacted in June 2009 with the purpose of recruiting and retaining businesses to the district, as well as marketing, landscaping and cleaning parking lots and sidewalks.