Agenda - 05-18-2010 - 8b - Laserfiche WebLink

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Levengood 8 4) TIF could be used to create an industrial corridor centered around nodes of density: As Orange County has expressed interest in using TIF to develop its EDDs, these sites have the potential to be part of a more comprehensive strategy. The county, for example, could promote the districts as three nodes of density along 1 -85 that could connect the Piedmont Triad and Alamance County to the west with Durham to the east, forming an industrial corridor. If density is promoted in these areas, then other developers, without TIF incentives, might take advantage of cheap rents and established infrastructure to develop along the corridor and eventually connect the EDDs. 5) The countyshouldstriveformunicipa ]involvement: Though an Orange County - administered TIF would be located on unincorporated land, there is opportunity for city /county cooperation. Ideal development would create linkages; for example, while a firm might locate its manufacturing operations in an unincorporated TIF, it could locate another aspect of its operations in Chapel Hill or Hillsborough. This approach would exploit location advantages both specifically, in terms of where within in the county each firm or operation would locate, and also broadly, in that the county could use its amenities, including those in its cities, to attract outside business. V. Additional Strategies While TIF is one strategy Orange County should consider pursuing to grow its tax base and promote economic development, a number of other development finance mechanisms have been employed by North Carolina jurisdictions. The following chart introduces each strategy, with a summary of pros and cons. The first four are more traditional mechanisms, whereas the final three are newer to the economic development "toolkit" and have, with a few exceptions, been relatively untested in the state (See Appendix). VI. Conclusion As Orange County proceeds with plans to reinvent its economic development policy, the EDAB should consider TIF, as well as other financing tools. A number of characteristics of the county make TIF implementation both problematic and advantageous, and the case studies in this report have sought to uncover this dichotomy while providing examples of positive and negative outcomes. By recognizing caveats and pursuing ideal development, Orange County has the unprecedented ability to craft TIP policy that, if part of a comprehensive and innovative plan, could steer a nationwide phenomenon, the "greenfield TIF", toward a more equitable and sustainable future.