TIF revenue will cover increased streetcar costs in Ohama
Posted on 21st June 2024 at 20:37
Ohama's light rail project has seen projected costs rise. The project is now expected to cost USD 1.3bn by the end of 2024 which has exceeded all prior estimates and the costs seem to be accelerating.
Municap, a public finance consulting firm which was hired to provide an independent analysis of the financial plan for the project in 2002 predicted that it would raise USD 2bn in the first 15 years as well as generating USD 608m in revenue from an increase in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to be paid by developers.
The new estimate shows that the projected revenue has almost doubled to USD 3.9bn and will generate a minimum of USD 940m from TIF revenues.
City of Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said, 'The primaey recommendation of the Greater Omaha Chamber's Urban Core Strategic Plan was the streetcar, to create development and bring 30,000 new jobs and 30,000 new residents downtown. The pace and value of the new development demonstrates the streetcar is already successful.'
'The streetcar creates a different dynamic in the core of a community abd that's more attractive to developers' said Omaha Streetcar Authority Chairman Jay Noodle. '
The revenue from developments will help pay for necessary infrastructure changes, help reduce future costs to tax payers and avoid future disruptions to the streetcar operations.
An Ohama streetcar within the city (CAF)
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