 Downtown Antrim Tax Increment Finance District
For many years residents of Antrim have seen the need to maintain and improve the downtown center. With this goal in mind, voters approved the creation of a Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District at the 2000 Town Meeting.
The objective of the TIF District is to provide public facilities and infrastructure improvements that will help revitalize and beautify downtown Antrim as a commercial and cultural center. The district finances these improvements with new tax revenue from increases in property values.
In 2003 the incremental increase in taxes was $51,579. This is due to a rise in the assessed value of poperties in the district from an original 2000 assessment of $4,539,340 to a 2003 assessment of $9,549,860.
The first district-wide undertaking was the Facade Improvement Program. Ten properties took advantage of free paint, matching grants and low-cost loans to make facade improvements. Among these were the new paint and awnings at Rick and Diane's Pizzeria and new siding and signage at the Antrim Marketplace.
The district's major focus at this time is the Main Street Rehabilitation Project which will bring new sidewalks, granite curbing, decorative lighting and other improvements to the downtown area. Progress on these projects can be reviewed in the TIF Board meeting minutes.
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