Members of the Sturtevant Community Development Authority Tuesday will consider a request from BRP (Bombardier) for economic incentives for an internal expansion that will add new jobs.
Village President Steve Jansen confirmed for Racine County Eye that BRP is reorganizing a portion of their Sturtevant headquarters to accommodate additional work stations and employees but it not building an addition.
“This is more of an internal expansion,” he said. “They’re more like remodeling and bringing in new equipment. I do know this will mean new jobs.”
RCE reached Jansen after hours so he couldn’t relay any numbers for how many square feet will be affected or how many jobs the expansion will add.
BRP is located in the Renaissance Business Park which is part of Sturtevant’s highly successful tax incremental financing district (TIF) that village officials anticipate closing between February and July. Jansen said BRP’s timing is important because of the TIF closing.
“The window to take advantage of special financing we have available is closing,” he added. “But what BRP is asking will not affect our timing for closing the TIF district and providing promised property tax relief to our residents.”
A TIF district is a tool that allows a municipality to borrow money for necessary infrastructure like sewer, water and roads and then use property taxes from district tenants to pay back those loans.
Once the loans are paid, the TIF closes and those same property taxes are added onto the tax rolls, increasing village revenues across the board and lowering rates for everyone. Sturtevant property owners – residential and commercial – will most likely see a 25 percent decrease in their property taxes in 2017.
The CDA meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Sturtevant Village Hall, 2801 89th Street. Call (262) 886-7200.