Sibley, Iowa — On the Osceola County Board of Supervisor’s agenda for their meeting this Tuesday, October 27th is the second reading of an ordinance proposing the establishment of an Urban Renewal Plan that would provide the City of Harris to use Tax Increment Financing to pay for upgrades to their sanitary waste system, as well as improvements to a section of White Avenue.
A public hearing on the issue was held last week, with several people speaking against the plan.
At issue is the utilization of TIF funds from a wind farm project in northeastern Osceola County to finance the improvements and upgrades needed by the City of Harris.
At the hearing last week, Al Brueggeman chastised the Board of Supervisors for failing to answer any questions about the project. He told the Supervisors that, “if you approve this, I guess we’ll have to see you in court”, before tossing a draft copy of his group’s proposed lawsuit filing onto the table in front of the Supervisors.
Board members assured the gathered crowd that the decision on this issue was not an easy one.
A motion was made and seconded to establish a Resolution to Declare Necessity and Establish an Urban Renewal Area, and approve the Urban Renewal Plan and Project for the Osceola County Urban Renewal Area #7. The measure passed 4-1 on a roll call vote, with Supervisor LeRoy DeBoer casting the lone dissenting vote.
According to the county auditor’s office, the measure needs to have three readings at three separate meetings unless one or more of the readings are waived; and then needs final approval and publication before becoming official.
