Contact: Cullen Werwie, 608-807-7586
Madison – Today Governor Scott Walker signed Senate Bill 55 into law at the State Capitol. Senate Bill 55 relates to an expansion of the number of tax incremental finance (TIF) districts that may be designated as distressed or severely distressed. TIF districts allow communities to make job creation and economic development a priority by transferring the district’s tax obligation to the costs of development through bonding.
Senate Bill 55 repeals the requirement that a TIF district must be in existence for seven years in order to qualify for distressed status and it also extends the filing deadline for a distressed or severely distressed designation to October 1, 2015.
“Allowing more tax incremental finance districts to designate themselves as ‘distressed’ or ‘severely distressed’ will give more time for them to retire their debts and become successful engines for job creation,” Governor Walker said. “This bill passed unanimously in the Senate and by a voice vote in the Assembly. This bipartisan, pro-jobs bill is exactly the type of work we must continue to do, together, to create 250,000 jobs by 2015. I thank Senator Sheila Harsdorf and Representative John Murtha for their leadership, and I thank the Legislature for coming together in a bipartisan fashion for job creation and economic growth.”
