Questions about a proposed tax increment financing district in Bangor drew plenty of questions and some concern from a crowd of at least 100 citizens Thursday night.

Not long after the meeting at Bangor High School began it became apparent that many of those in attendance were skeptical about the benefits to the community and suspicious of the motives behind the project.

The village also released a project plan at the meeting. It identified three potential development projects within the district — a new bank, a senior citizen facility with 20 to 25 units and redevelopment along the railroad tracks.

Two developers — Paul Schams owner of the River Bank and Nick Adams of Adams Recycling — are known to have expressed interest in projects within the proposed TIF district. Village officials said Thursday that there are “multiple developers” involved at present and more possible in the future.

The expressed purpose of the TIF is to revitalize the area centered around the end of Commercial Street where the Hussa Brewery/Sprehn Feedmill buildings once stood. Earlier in the week, the meeting site was changed from village hall to accommodate the increased citizen interest.

Both the change of venue and the meeting itself came under early attack. Bangor resident Nancy Christopherson claimed that proper notification had not been given to the public as required by Wisconsin law and therefore the meeting should be cancelled and rescheduled. Her claim was disputed by village president Rob Gjertsen and by Chuck Sulik of MSA Professional Services, the village’s consultant on the TIF project.

“As part of any TIF process we have to file an affidavit that proper notification was given,” Sulik said. “If we can’t do that, then everything we’re doing tonight is moot.”

Gjertsen said it was his understanding that proper notice had been given and said that the meeting would continue. “If we didn’t notify people properly then we’ll just have to do this all over again later,” he said.

Throughout the meeting Christopherson and others echoed the sentiment that not enough notice had been given and that more of the community needed to be involved in such a major decision.

Sulik, who was at the microphone for almost the entire hour-and-40-minute meeting, began by giving a brief tutorial on TIF districts, explaining that they were a financial tool enabling communities to revitalize areas that might otherwise never be developed. He emphasized that property owners within the TIF paid exactly the same amount of property tax as those outside it.

The difference is that, as the assessed value of the land within the TIF increases, the portion of increased taxes or “increment,” goes to the village to pay the costs of infrastructure and site improvements like water and sewer lines, streetscaping, etc.

“What if we gave a TIF and nobody came?” asked a resident concerned about Bangor taxpayers being left on the hook if the TIF did not work out. “The village doesn’t put up the money first — the developer or developers do,” Gjersten said.

He said that the TIF was a way to develop the area with minimal risk to the village. Sulik was asked about TIF projects that have failed. He said there were a few, but the vast majority of the roughly 1,000 TIFs done for municipalities in Wisconsin have been successful.

According to the project plan prepared by MSA Professional Services (and handed out at the Thursday meeting) the total cost to be recouped by the village with incremental taxes would be $1 million. At present, the properties within the TIF district are assessed at a little over $1 million. That would rise to $6 million if projections published with the plan are correct. Those projections cite a figure of $4 million for the bank and senior facility and $2 million for redevelopment along the railroad track

There are four kinds of TIF districts — blight, rehab, industrial and mixed use. The village chose the rehabilitation route. That, and the fact that developers have tried to buy properties within the district, has led to much confusion among village residents.

Many believed that property owners within the TIF could have their homes taken away from them against their will. That led to an exchange with Gjertsen late in the meeting where a questioner asked “What if (James) Summerfield doesn’t want to sell his home?”

“Then he doesn’t have to sell it,” replied Gjertsen.

“But then it will be taken away from him,” said the questioner.

“No it won’t — that’s why we set this up as a rehabilitation district and not a blight district,” explained Gjertsen.

The VFW building is within the district and Commander John Thornsen expressed concern: “We own that building and don’t owe anything on it so we don’t want to move,”

Sulik, in a conversation after the meeting, said that taking people’s property away from them was not part of the TIF agenda. “I’ve seen absolutely no indication that the village wants to exercise eminent domain. No city or village wants to get involved with that and no community that I know of has done it — the only cases I’ve heard of are when the state wants to make way for a highway,” Sulik said.

Gjertsen reiterated after the meeting that, as far as he knew, there were no plans for the village to take over private property. “I’m not planning on taking anyone’s home. Although I can only speak for myself, I’m pretty sure the board is of the same opinion.”

Another contentious topic at the meeting was the proposed use for the cleared site. Some residents expressed the opinion that a new bank was not a good use for the site. Trustee Jeff Schurhammer then asked, “There’s nothing on that site now. Would you rather it just stay the way it is?”

Some in the audience pushed for a public referendum on the issue, saying that more people needed to be involved. Someone on the other side of the issue shouted out that, “That’s what we elect them (public officials) for!”

In the end, the meeting ended with little consensus. Some wanted the boundaries of the proposed TIF district to be limited to the area around the old mill. Others wanted it extended to cover all of downtown Commercial Street.

Still, Rod Hundt, president of the school board, felt the evening accomplished something. “I think it helped clear up some of the rumors going around,” he said.

After noting that it was a complicated subject, Hundt admitted that he had understood very little about TIFs until recently. “The state of Wisconsin has a real good website about TIFs — I learned a lot from that,” Hundt said.

At the close of the meeting Gjertsen said the next TIF meeting would be on Sept. 24 when the Joint Review Board meets. He then invited citizen input. “You’ve got 30 days — let us know what you want us to do,” he said.

In addition, village planning commission members will meet at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 10, prior to the monthly village board meeting. Both of those meetings will be open to the public, and commission members also invite public input.