To address a need for single-family housing, the city of Monmouth plans to annex a parcel on the city’s east side, build a new street, and extend water and sewer services with the goal of attracting home builders and developers to construct a new housing subdivision.
The city council has approved an option to purchase a nine-acre parcel on 12th Street and has given the go-ahead to establish a Tax Increment Financing district on the city’s east side encompassing the site.
TIF districts capture new property tax revenue generated by redevelopment within their boundaries to pay for improvements or provide business incentives.
Administrator Lew Steinbrecher told TSPR this could create “somewhere in the neighborhood of a dozen lots” to be developed into market-rate, single-family homes.
Steinbrecher said the city’s most recent housing study identified a need for more than 150 homes in Monmouth, and predominantly a need for single-family housing. But he said the majority of the lots available within the city limits are not wide enough for new construction, so a property outside the city limits is ideal.
“It's something that we've been working on in the past decade. It's been very difficult to really bring a property owner that's willing to sell,” Steinbrecher said. “I think we're at a point now where this is a good first step but it is indeed just the first step so we do have a lot of work ahead of us in terms of making this project become financially feasible to undertake.”
Now that the council has approved an inducement resolution for the new TIF, Steinbrecher said the city can annex the property and look at a financing plan for extending public improvements to the parcel.
Steinbrecher said the city has talked with home builders and developers over the last eight or nine years.
“We've always had this difficulty of being able to identify a property owner willing to sell,” Steinbrecher said. “So we will plan to reactivate those contacts and relationships that we've developed over the years. And hopefully we can bring all the players in to move forward.”
The city also approved paying the city’s TIF consultant $32,400 to establish the new TIF district. Steinbrecher said that cost will be paid from the city’s Main Street TIF, with the expense to be repaid once the new TIF is in place.
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