Allowing a redevelopment financing tool in Troup County would “go a long way to attracting new business and industry to our area,” banker and civic leader Patrick Crews said at a news conference Thursday at the Troup County Government Center.

Crews has been tapped to lead support of a July 20 referendum on whether LaGrange, Hogansville and the county’s unincorporated area can use tax allocation districts to help create development in urbanized or blighted areas. West Point approved the measure last year.

Under the incentive program, the local governments and school system would continue to receive current tax revenue from the property designated for redevelopment. But the increased taxes generated from improvements on the site would be used to retire tax-exempt bonds that pay for development costs such as infrastructure and pedestrian facilities.

Once the bonds have been retired, which can’t be more than 30 years, the local governments and school system would get the property’s full tax benefits. Taxpayers would not be on the hook for any bond payments.

Tax allocation districts, or TADS, are “an economic development tool local governments can use to incentivize development in areas that might be economically risky or difficult for a private developer, but that make sense otherwise,” said county zoning administrator Scott Turk.

Any project must be approved by the governing bodies of the affected jurisdictions after public hearings.

Voters in LaGrange and Hogansville will be asked two questions: whether to approve redevelopment districts in their city and whether to approve them in the unincorporated area. Voters in the unincorporated will have only one question on the ballot.

Early voting starts June 7 and ends July 16 in the registrar’s office at the Government Center.

Turk said there are 27 TAD projects in Georgia with bonds totaling $445 million and private investment $3.2 billion with no defaults. The tax base on those properties has grown 300 percent.

No more than 10 percent of a jurisdiction’s tax base can be committed to TADs.

Turk said the school system and local governments are losing all kinds of sales tax revenue because Troup County residents are going shopping in Newnan, Columbus and Auburn, Ala., and “I don’t think there’s anybody in this room that hasn’t made the trip themselves.”

TADs would be an incentive for big retailers such as Target and Kohl’s to build stores here.

“We’re on their list, but we’re trying to find ways we can move up the list,” County Commission Chairman Ricky Wolfe said. “(TADs are) a tool we’ve come to believe will help move us up the list. … We’ve got a major seepage of sales tax,” which is the county’s second-largest source of revenue after property taxes.

Mill Creek Station, a stalled development on North Davis Road, would be off the ground by now if a TAD had been available, according to Realtor Tommy Baker, who is working with the developer.

“There would be 100,000 square feet on the corner of Davis Road today if this TAD had been in place two years ago,” Baker said.

— Any civic or church group that wants a presentation on the TAD referendum may call Page Estes, president of the LaGrange-Troup County Chamber of Commerce, at (706) 884-8671.

Joel Martin can be reached at jmartin@lagrangenews.com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 235.