TOPSHAM

Topsham selectmen will hear about a tax increment financing proposal from the owners of Highland Greens during a workshop Thursday night.

The workshop will begin at 6 p.m. at the municipal building and is open to the public.

Topsham Economic and Community Development Director John Shattuck said the original Highland Greens TIF district is only partially built out, due in part to the economic downturn in past years which slowed down construction. The TIF was written for a term of approximately 30 years, and so only approximately 10 years are left.

According to its website, developer John Wasileski founded Highland Green, on the north side of Route 196, in the early 2000s. The active lifestyle communities are planned developments that offer independent, relatively maintenance free living to residents primarily aged 55 and over.

Shattuck said Sea Coast Management proposes to revise the boundaries of the TIF district to encompass the area that has already been built out, and to create a new TIF district for the remaining land, which would basically have the same goals, in order to restart the clock again.

This would allow Seacoast more time to build out Highland Green and give them more financing flexibility. Shattuck said the TIF allows a developer to go to a bank and say they have an income stream assigned to the bank, or whatever the financing entity. The town collects taxes on the new value and would give a rebate as agreed upon in the TIF.

Moving forward with planned future construction, “ they’re basically proposing to do the same kind of development,” Shattuck said.

Because the development would border the Route 196 Coastal Connector, future phases include some commercial development and some slightly different scale of residential units, like multi-unit buildings.

Before a TIF proposal would go to voters, possibly at the next May town meeting, a public hearing would need to beheld for the public to weigh in. Shattuck said he anticipates Sea Coast Management will hold a public meeting to discuss their proposal.

Topsham Development Inc., the quasi-municipal, economic development arm of the town, also plans to hold a public meeting soon to discuss how TIFs benefit the town and how the various TIF programs in Topsham have performed over the years.

Tax increment financing is one of the few economic tools in the state that are fully under local control, Shattuck said.

“Part of the discussion is, what’s in it for the town other than a portion of new value and tax revenues,” Shattuck said.

dmoore@timesrecord.com

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