The city says it’s 40% of your bill. Here’s what it really takes, where the new money went, and what TID money now pays for.
Your taxesA quick reminder about TIDs and your taxes
50.3%city + TID share of the 2025 tax rate
The city’s FAQ says it is “only 40%” of your tax bill. That was about right in 2016; counting the TID money the city collects, it has been about half since 2022.
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Two lines on the city’s rate sheet belong to the city: its own levy and the TID line. Together they went from 41% of the tax rate in 2016 to 50.3% in 2025.
The city might say“TID money can only be spent on the districts.”
But the city decides what that spending isAs you will see, that line can get blurry, and it looks like the city relies on those blurred lines to balance the books for new expenses. About half the city’s land is inside a TID, and TID 5 can spend, with Joint Review Board approval, within a half mile of its edge: 92% of the city. Squint hard enough and any project is a TID project.
Source: city taxing-district sheets 2016–2025 (city + TID rate ÷ total rate); city FAQ, archived Aug. 5, 2026; TID 5 plan amendment (Dec. 2019) p.12; TID parcel acres, statewide parcel files.
Your taxesProperty taxes go up when the levy goes up
+21%city levy, 2019 to 2025
The city’s levy rose 21%, or $1.3 million, from 2019 to 2025. State law lets it grow as new buildings go up, most of them inside TIDs, and that $1.3 million is part of the tax increase we feel.
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Wisconsin caps how much a city can raise its levy, but the cap grows with net new construction. Buildings inside TIDs count, while their own taxes go to the TID. Every new building lets the levy rise for good.
That’s why the city is so build-happyEach new building adds levy room the city keeps forever, while its taxes fill the TID fund. The rest of us cover the higher rate.
The city might say“New buildings need city services, and state law sets the levy limit.”
Then the new buildings should pay for themTheir taxes go to the TID fund instead. The Legislative Council confirmed it: when construction happens inside a TID, the levy can grow while the new value stays out of the rate, so the mill rate rises.
Source: city levy from adopted budgets (2019–20), DOR PC-202 worksheets (2021–23) and the city taxing-district sheet (2024–25); DOR net new construction reports; 2025 PE-300; Wis. Stat. § 66.0602; Legislative Council memo, Nov. 2022.
Your taxesShifting money
94→54%share of city admin payroll paid from the General Fund
In 2017, the city’s General Fund paid 94% of its admin payroll. In 2026 it pays 54%, and TID money covers $425,508.
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TID money sits outside the state’s levy limit. Paying payroll from it needs no referendum, and the shift never shows up as a city tax increase.
The city might say“State law lets TIDs pay for staff time spent on TID work.” (Wis. Stat. § 66.1105(2)(f))
Half their time?Then why does the city also pay Concord Consulting Group $10,200 a month to manage TID projects like the Bluffs? See what else goes out the door in the city’s check registers.
Source: adopted budgets 2017–2026, salary and benefit lines for council, mayor, administrator, general administration and clerk-treasurer, and the same lines charged to TIDs 3–5.
Your taxesDeveloper handouts
$59.1MTID 5 commitments, lifetime cost
Six TID 5 commitments, from developer payments to the Triangle land, carry about $59.1 million in lifetime costs. The Bluffs alone is $27.3 million.
That’s $55 million promised to private developers instead of our community. About $24.5 million was borrowed up front, which every taxpayer backs, plus interest. It will take years for the TIDs’ benefits to catch up.
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That’s $55 million promised to private developers instead of our community. About $24.5 million was borrowed up front, which every taxpayer backs, plus interest. It will take years for the TIDs’ benefits to catch up.
ImagineIf we funded social programs as well as we fund private development. That control is ultimately up to the state.
The city might say“These buildings wouldn’t exist without the deals, and they’ll pay taxes for decades.”
Decades from nowThe tax base waits until the TIDs close in 2036. And even then, we’re left with a fraction of the old TID rate, because the city now looks wealthier. Our rough model: about $1.1–1.3 million a year of relief citywide, so it would take roughly 30 years, into the 2060s, to repay the $34 million that homes and businesses without TID deals will have paid in by 2036.
Source: Ehlers TID 5 report to the Joint Review Board (Dec. 3, 2024), cash flow p. 7; PE-300s for 2019–2021 FBI building payments. Lifetime cost includes scheduled payments.
Questions, corrections, or a neighbor’s story about this? Talk about it on Connect St. Francis.