2007 Senate Bill 47 ↩

House Roll Call 212: Passed

To authorize local governments to create "water resource improvement tax increment financing authorities" with the purpose of using "captured" tax revenues to pay for broadly defined "water resource improvement" projects that aid in "water resource improvement" and economic growth, including streets, plazas, pedestrian malls, and any improvements to these including street furniture and beautification, parks, parking facilities, recreational facilities, right of way acquisitions, structures, waterways, bridges, lakes, ponds, canals, utility lines or pipes, sewer systems, water systems, storm water systems, or buildings that aid. A municipality could condemn and take property under its eminent domain powers and give the property to the authority. A municipality could also add special assessments to property tax bills to pay for these projects, and could create a tax increment finance authority (TIFA) to "capture" the increment of extra local property tax revenue that would result from the economic growth which might be generated by the "water resource" improvements. The “captured” tax revenue would be used to pay off the debt incurred by borrowing to provide these new facilities.