The Porter County Redevelopment Commission is advancing, at least for now, plans for a residential tax increment financing district in Center Township.

The board voted 3-2 Tuesday to hold a meeting with financial experts from affected taxing districts. Commission chair Barb Regnitz and member Ralph Neff voted against it.

Coolman Builders, which is developing the 39-acre, 93-home Wood’s Edge subdivision north of U.S. 30 between Joliet and Hayes Leonard roads and Skyline Drive, is asking for the tax increment financing district to help pay for infrastructure work there. It would be Porter County’s first residential TIF district.

Andy Maletta, a nonvoting member of the commission, asked why the county would need a TIF to encourage a subdivision.

“This certainly doesn’t qualify for affordable housing,” he said, “and it sounds like it’s already started anyway. I just don’t understand why we would be doing a TIF for this project anyway.”

How much incentive does Porter County need to lure developers, Regnitz asked.

Indiana Business Research Center projects the county’s population will grow 5.6% between 2020 and 2050 while neighboring Lake County will see a 1% drop and LaPorte County 6.6%.

“We’re constantly being approached for subdivisions,” said Mike Jabo, the county’s executive director of development and stormwater management. That’s evidence that people do want to build homes in the county, he said.

“I can’t predict how many or exactly where, but we’re a very popular place for residential building,” Jabo said.

But the inventory of homes on the market is low, Coolman attorney Bill Ferngren said. Realtors prefer a six-month supply of available homes, but it’s about two months’ worth now.

Building these $500,000 homes will allow people in less expensive homes to move there, freeing up the existing homes for other buyers, Ferngren said.

The TIF designation is a legislative tool to encourage infrastructure investment in unincorporated areas near municipalities. “We believe this is right in the wheelhouse of that specific legislative intent,” Ferngren said.

“I just think it’s a tool available for developers,” commission member Jason Gilliana said.

Anybody who wants to do a subdivision like this could request it, he said, to help spark more developments in the future.

“I think the incentive is needed simply because of the cost of providing this infrastructure,” Ferngren said.

The way the TIF would work is the county would issue a bond, bought by the developer, to pay upfront for infrastructure work. The tax increment — the increased amount of property taxes paid because of the higher value of the developed land — would be used to repay the bond.

The subdivision would need water and sewer lines, underground electric lines, streets, curbs, gutters and more. All that would cost an estimated $7.5 million to $10 million.

County Council President Mike Brickner, a member of the Redevelopment Commission, asked if it would take longer to build the infrastructure without the bonds.

A Redevelopment Commission report on the proposal said the Wood’s Edge TIF would be phased in between 2025 and 2032 with an average of 13 homes per year being built. The market value of the homes would be about $500,000 to $650,000, boosting the subdivision’s assessed valuation to $53.4 million and generating $412,000 in annual property tax revenue.

Several neighbors complained to the commission about flooding from construction work already being done at the site.

“We’ve had growth in the county for 30 years, since I’ve been here, and I’m not the sort of person to finance a developer,” Councilman Ronald “Red” Stone, R-1st, told the commission.

At Tuesday night’s county council meeting, Stone said he is keeping an open mind until hearing a presentation on the proposed TIF.

At the council meeting a few hours later, the residential TIF idea got pushback from some of the council members. Regnitz offered to arrange a presentation for the council before the Redevelopment Commission votes on final approval. The council and Board of Commissioners, of which Regnitz is vice president, would have to give their approval.

“If we all say we’re not approving your bond, then you’re spinning your wheels,” Councilman Andy Bozak, R-at large, said.

“The idea is crazy to TIF residential. There’s no way I would support it,” Councilman Jeremy Rivas, D-2nd, said.

“The one that was introduced today, the development’s already happening,” Councilman Greg Simms, D-3rd, said.

The council’s next meeting is set for 5:30 p.m. Dec. 3.

Doug Ross is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.