Letter to the editor

At a recent Grundy County Supervisors meeting, it was claimed Fox Ridge has received over twice the dollar amount ($5,599,519) in tax abatement as was originally authorized ($2,500,000).  The first number is in error and the second number is taken out of context.  Following is a summary of the TIF.
 
For Phase One, the maximum allowed amount for infrastructure was $2,500,000. A total of $2,200,567 was paid to the Fox Ridge Development Company (FRDC) for certified infrastructure, and additionally, the city of Dike received $433,168 for infrastructure and $799,836 for the Low to Moderate Income (LMI) housing fund. Between the two entities, a total of $3,453,572 in payments were received for Phase One.
 
On Phase Two, the maximum infrastructure allowed per the agreement was $1,500,000. The FRDC’s certified infrastructure costs were $1,311,666, and a total of $1,022,623 was paid to the FRDC for infrastructure. An additional $352,191 was dispersed into the city of Dike’s LMI fund. In all, $4,828,385 has been paid out on both phases to date.
 
As noted in the article, since the development started, Dike's population grew from 875 to 1280 and taxable valuation on residential property has skyrocketed from just $2 million two decades ago to over $95 million.  What positive impacts to the community of Dike.
 
It is also noted the reason FRDC is receiving these TIF funds is because FRDC put up the initial costs and absorbed the project risks.  This is unlike many TIF districts where the taxpayers put up initial cost and take the risk.