The Teutopolis Village Board approved two resolutions authorizing their participation in the Effingham Enterprise Zone at their Wednesday night meeting. Along with The City of Effingham and Effingham County, they are the third government body that is part of the Enterprise Zone. Enterprise Zones are state designated areas where businesses are eligible to receive tax incentive when expanding or relocating in the zone. State law requires bodies of government within the zone to sign an intergovernmental agreement that sets terms on how the zone is operated.
Board members did express concern over one clause in the agreement that allows the party who established the Enterprise Zone, The City of Effingham, to delete areas of the zone as they see fit. Another concern raised was that part of the Enterprise zone area in Teutopolis is also in a TIF District. While the two areas are legally allowed to intersect, TIF laws supersede Enterprise Zone Laws. One of the benefits of an Enterprise zone is a tax abatement when a property value rises. In a TIF district, when property a value rises the additional tax is put into a TIF fund for the municipality to use for development. Having that overriding TIF law could make that portion of an Enterprise less attractive for development. The application for the new Enterprise Zone is due at the end of this year.
Andrew Hamilton a representative of the Opportunity Alliance LLC, the consulting firm that drafted the intergovernmental agreement for the City of Effingham, informed the board at the meeting that changes could be made to the language in the agreement as well as the boarder of the zone after it was approved.
The board also voted to pay bill to the tune of 150,564.10 for to Effingham Asphalt for the Water Street Overlay Project.