Jasper Common Council approves budget, tax rate, residential TIF and tax abatement

ByFree Press Staff Reading Time: 3 minutes

The Jasper Common Council approved resolutions supporting two housing developments during Wednesday’s regular meeting as well as held public hearing for the adopted 2025 budget and tax rate.

With no remonstrators in attendance, the council approved the 2025 budget of $28,083,171 and the preliminary tax rate for 2025 at $0.9969 per $100 of assessed value. That tax rate is the advertised rate, and it will likely be lowered after the state certifies it. For example, the 2024 tax rate advertised was $1.0568 per $100 of assessed value and the certified tax rate was $0.7968 per $100 of assessed value.

Northridge Estates Subdivision

Kerstiens Development presented plans for Northridge Estates, a new subdivision to be located at the corner of Portersville Road and 47th Street. The project has been walked through several boards and commissions prior to this meeting.

Key details include:

  • Approximately 80 acres of land with 155 owner-occupied lots will be developed over several years
  • Plans call for 28 villa-style homes, similar to those in Autumn Creek Three and the rest will be single-family homes.
  • Single-family homes start at $250,000; villas start at $225,000-$230,000

The project involves a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) agreement to offset some of the costs associated with installing the estimated $5,127,893 infrastructure, which includes utilities, storm sewers, streets, sidewalks and curbs for the new development.

According to Ruger Kerstiens, the increased property taxes in the development that are captured will flow through to pay back the infrastructure investment up to $1.1 million, which includes the legal fees to create the TIF.

“We do not recoup that up to $1.1 million unless we build the homes, develop the new tax base and get reimbursed over the years,” Kerstiens told the council.

The goal is to decreas the lot costs to the homeowners. He explained the cost would be reduced about $6,500 to $7,000 per lot.

The infrastructure amount is expected to be paid back by 2030, assuming construction proceeds as planned. After payback, those TIF funds must be used in the area or for supporting projects.

Construction is set to begin this year, with completion projected for 2029-2030. Exterior materials will be based on homeowner preferences, including options like brick, stone, or siding.

While council members raised concerns about housing affordability, noting realtor reports of demand for homes in the $180,000 range, the developer explained the challenges of producing quality homes at lower price points in the current market. They suggested this development could create a “move-up” effect, potentially freeing up existing lower-priced homes.

Councilwoman Nancy Eckerle and Councilman John Schroeder both agreed this was the first residential tax increment finance district for the city and it would be a good test case to see if it is a tool the city wants to adopt in the future.

The council approved the resolution to have the TIF increment used for the infrastructure subsidy and to form the economic revitalization area as a step to creating the TIF area.

Park Place Estates Phase Three

Kerstiens representing Park Place Estates One LLC, presented plans for the third phase of the Park Place apartment complex:

  • 28 new apartment units (12 two-bedroom townhomes and 16 two-bedroom flats)
  • Part of a larger 150-unit development project of which 75 units have been completed in the first two phases.
  • Construction expected to start within the next couple of months, with completion projected by fall 2025

Kersteins explained that the site work has created a bottleneck to completing all the apartments as originally presented in the plan. “There is a large hillside that has to be excavated…I need a place to put that dirt,” he explained.

He said that a fourth phase would be utilized to complete the project.

The council approved a tax abatement for the project, which scored 68 points on the city’s tax abatement scale and qualified for a seven-year tax abatement schedule.

Notably, Phase 1 of Park Place Estates, now coming off its original tax abatement, has added approximately $3.4 million to the city’s tax base.

This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence.

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