By DEBORAH GERTZ HUSAR

Herald-Whig Staff Writer

PITTSFIELD, Ill. -- The Pittsfield City Council established a tax increment financing district Tuesday, but Mayor John Hayden knows the payoff won't come for a while.

"It will take time to build any revenue base," Hayden said.

TIF districts set a "base value" for property in their boundaries, then any increases in property values from improvements goes into a separate fund for up to 23 years to provide incentives for more improvement projects or local match money for grants.

"The cost of infrastructure is getting so high," Hayden said. "Hopefully, we can put money in there to help do infrastructure within the city, sidewalks around the square, new roads.

"The other value is if something comes along that wants to build something of magnitude we can help fund some of that, help them decide they want to build."

Separate ordinances adopted Tuesday on 7-0 votes with Alderman Larry Ruble absent approved the redevelopment plan and projects, designated the redevelopment project area and formally adopted the TIF district.

The TIF plan outlines about $28 million in improvements ranging from streets and sidewalks to utilities and downtown revitalization.

The district consists of 571 property parcels, 457 improved and 114 vacant, across a wide swath of the city from the western boundaries to the downtown, industrial park and the airport.

Also Tuesday, aldermen approved an ordinance to execute an intergovernmental agreement with the Pikeland School District to ensure the district doesn't lose money because of the TIF district.

Without the agreement, "we stand to lose pretty substantially. It just protects our interest," Superintendent Paula Hawley said.

The School Board expects to approve the agreement on July 16.

Work on the TIF district began in 2005, stalled while parcel maps were developed, then began again in spring 2007. A public meeting was held in September, the first draft of the TIF redevelopment plan was filed in March and representatives of taxing bodies voted in May to accept the proposed plan.

Several businesses already have signed "inducement resolutions" which include them in the TIF district but don't guarantee funding for any projects.

-- dhusar@whig.com/221-3379