Now that the Brookfield Village Board has hired a consultant to investigate the feasibility of creating a TIF district in the Grand/Prairie area, it’ll be interesting to see the justification for such a designation.
Typically, TIF districts are created only when if it’s determined that “but for” the TIF, development would not take place. Yet, that clearly is not the case in the area in and around downtown.
At this very moment, there are no less than three developments under review in that area and one that has been completed within the past couple of years. Paisan’s has undergone a significant remodel and new businesses like Burger Antics, the Brookfield Ale House (soon to be Sebastian’s), Little Owl Social Club, Gosia’s coffee shop and others have opened their doors.
Our guess is that the consultant will find some sort of justification for a TIF; it is always thus. But such designations do impact local taxing bodies over a long period of time, so we’d really like to see some convincing evidence before fully supporting such an initiative.
