Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) is the most powerful economic development tool that Wisconsin municipalities have. It is a mechanism to fund development and redevelopment projects including public improvements surrounding projects. Traditionally, municipalities have used TIF to provide financial assistance to developers at the beginning of a development project. The municipality recovers those costs in later years from the increased property tax revenues generated by the project.
Today, Shorewood has four active Tax Increment Districts (TID). The first District was approved in 1995. Most recently, TID #5 was created July 2014 for the Metro Market and Mosaic redevelopment. Below are each district's approved project plans.
On February 15, 2021, the Village Board approved Policy 40 TID Creation and TIF Assistance to guide the utilization of TIF in Shorewood. That policy outlines a two-phased application and review process.