ELKINS — Elkins City Council has formed a TIF Advisory Committee to help determine what projects to fund with the proceeds from the city’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district.

City documents describe the new “ad hoc” body as a “non-governing-body advisory committee to assist council in evaluating and prioritizing projects proposed for funding” through the TIF proceeds.

“City Council will retain final approval authority over all TIF spending decisions; this committee is advisory only,” the documents state.

The advisory committee will be made up of City Clerk Sutton Stokes, Elkins Operations Manager Michael Kesecker, Randolph County Development Authority Executive Director Robbie Morris, and Woodlands Development Group, Inc. Executive Director Dave Clark.

The stated objectives of the committee are “to create a system of objective criteria for rating and prioritizing development or redevelopment projects as described in the Project Plan to foster economic development in the TIF District;” to “adopt and establish rules and regulations and develop forms as it deems necessary so as to fulfill the purposes for which the Committee has been established;” and to “recommend to the Council, prior to the tax increment financing fund being used to pay or support costs of any development or redevelopment project, including any debt service on any TIF obligations issued from the TIF District.”

To fund several costly redevelopment projects, the City of Elkins enacted a plan to issue up to $25 million in tax increment revenue bonds. In January 2023, Elkins City Council voted to submit an application to the state to issue bonds in order to fund projects through TIF. The TIF application was approved by the state in April 2023.

The TIF district plan has been controversial, with county officials publicly opposing it.

Randolph County Commissioners David Kesling and Cris Siler told The Inter-Mountain they were stunned to learn that the TIF process, if enacted, would result in some future tax money being rerouted from the county to pay for the city’s renovation projects — and that this would continue for the next 30 years. 

Prior to the TIF application’s approval, the Randolph County Commission announced that it would ask the Department of Economic Development to decline the city’s TIF application, and sent out an opposition letter to the organization.

In December, Randolph County Assessor Phyllis Yokum told the Randolph County Commission her office had two clerks working on the personal property commercial accounts for the TIF. Because of all the extra work being put into gathering numbers for the TIF, Yokum said vendors would have to be used to help with the process.

Yokum said she had spoken to Todd Hooker from the West Virginia Development Office to see if the county could be reimbursed for the extra time and employees it is using to gather the TIF information.

She said any money the county would receive as compensation would come directly out of the TIF funds.