Mariner’s Way—the area along the Boston Post Road from Route 154 eastward to the river—is a spot that two recent grant-funded studies have identified as ripe for redevelopment. Now the town is investigating whether a new municipal financing tool could prove an attractive option for funding public infrastructure improvements in the area.

The area has already been targeted by two studies whose shared goal was to support redevelopment of underutilized properties in the corridor. One study evaluated the extent of residual contamination of seven industrial parcels and calculated clean-up costs to help a future developer know clearly the costs to re-use the site. A second study, completed in December 2017, examined all of the properties in the corridor and made recommendations for how each section might be redeveloped.

Central to these future plans, however, are changes in the existing streetscape to reduce traffic speed and add sidewalks and bicycle paths to enhance recreational opportunities while also building links to the town center.

Making these changes would require public infrastructure investments, raising the question for officials: How could—or should—a town finance such improvements just in order to make a target area more attractive for investors and redevelopment?

One option is to establish a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district in a target redevelopment area. TIF is a new municipal tool first authorized for town use by the State Legislature in the 2015 legislative session.

As described on the non-profit organization’s Connecticut Main Street Center website ctmainstreet.org, “With TIF, a portion of the new revenues that result from the development or other improvements can be designated by the local legislative body to pay for costs associated with specific development and or future development.”

So in Old Saybrook, voters at Town Meeting could decide to establish a TIF district and then agree to allocate all or a portion of any redeveloped property’s tax increases, called the tax increment, to help pay for public improvements in the district.

To explore the value of this concept for Mariner’s Way, the Board of Selectmen has hired Patrick McMahon of Connecticut Main Street Center. McMahon’s task will be two-fold: to develop a tax increment district master plan for a possible TIF district, and second, to describe a financing plan for proposed improvements in the district.

“We met with Patrick McMahon of Connecticut Main Street and have retained him to assist us in creating a tax increment financing district” plan, said First Selectman Carl Fortuna, Jr.

Fortuna stressed at the April 10 selectman’s meeting that this work will help town leaders explore whether a TIF district is a viable financing option for the town. McMahon’s work is funded by $23,000 left unspent in the town’s Brownfields Area Revitalization grant account. The State Office of Policy and Management (OPM) agreed the unspent funds could be used for this additional task.

Town Planner Christine Nelson told the selectmen that a TIF district master plan would set district boundaries and then, within the district, characterize its buildings, uses, and facilities. Next, the plan would identify the needed public improvements in the district that would be financed with the property tax increment.

“There’s an entire process we have to go through to establish a [TIF] district. We’re at the very beginning of the process. [The proposal] would have to go to town boards and commissions and then to a town meeting to adopt,” said Old Saybrook Economic Development Director Susie Beckman.

As Selectmen Scott Giegerich summarized the issue, the goal of a TIF, if the town were to move forward, would be to “incentivize” private investment in the town.

“As a concept, the Board [of Selectmen] is interested,” concluded Fortuna.