Despite the objections of County Commissioner Len Miller, the Austin City Council unanimously approved the expansion of Tax Increment Finance District No.

Tuesday, October 19, 1999

Despite the objections of County Commissioner Len Miller, the Austin City Council unanimously approved the expansion of Tax Increment Finance District No. 9.

Originally approved in April, TIF District No. 9 was initially set up to encourage Palleton pallet-making company to locate in Austin. The two-acre site south of the Mower County Recycling Center expanded by 13 acres Monday night to include the former railroad property extending from, not including, the old railroad depot down to East Oakland Ave.

The district – located between 10th St. NE and 11th St. NE from 4th Ave. NE to E. Oakland Ave. – was expanded to assist with the development of 34,000 square feet of new buildings for the Austin Transportation Company. The expansion will allow for the development of the property as well as the correction of soil contamination in the area, caused by the dumping of chemicals while the area was occupied by the railroad.

In a letter to the council, Miller objected to the expansion, writing that he felt "compelled to respond" to the expansion, because he believed it was not an appropriate use of tax increment financing. "TIF needs to create new jobs or clean up blighted areas," Miller wrote, "… I believe Austin Transport would undertake this regardless … I do not view this as cleaning up a blight area."

Council member Dick Lang, in whose 3rd Ward the TIF district is located, disagreed.

"You should drive around your district, Mr. Miller," he said, after pinpointing Miller’s comment about blight area.

Former council member Dick Pacholl was the only audience member to stand up and question the expansion during the public hearing.

"I’m not in favor of TIF for this project because I believe TIF should be used to bring in new jobs or industry," Pacholl said. "But I want to know what will happen to the old Austin Transport building. Will that sit empty? Will we be taking care of one blight area simply to create another?"

While the council couldn’t answer for Austin Transport’s intentions for their old building, Lang stressed the value of cleaning up the land.

"No other business has been willing to go in and clean up this area," he said.

The Austin Housing and Redevelopment Authority is also applying for a grant to clean up the most polluted portion of the site.