Council OKs districts to aid economic development

Without a lot of fanfare, Superior’s City Council on Tuesday approved two measures to encourage economic development.

The council approved the creation of one tax increment finance district and the expansion of another.

The districts will help pay for incentives and develop infrastructure to accommodate growth of two businesses on Connors Point and development of Kestrel Aircraft Co.’s assembly plant at the fairgrounds.

Taxes from the development and expansion projects would pay for the incentives and improvements over time.

To accommodate development of Kestrel’s aircraft assembly plant the city anticipates making about $2.3 million in expenditures for infrastructure at the facility adjacent to the airport. Initially the city would spend about $750,000 for the phase of the tax increment district to meet its obligations addressed in a development agreement between the city and Kestrel.

The remaining phases of the airport tax increment district are preliminary and the expectation is taxes collected over the life of the district, according to the city’s financial advisers.

The goal of the new district, No. 12, is to promote industrial development at the airport by making public infrastructure improvements and creating development incentives that are expected to create more than 600 jobs.

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