New TIF Would Have Wide Impact

Three billboards would be among the casualties of a new TIF project on the northside of La Crosse.  The city council’s finance committee will vote this week on whether to approve the tax financed district that includes the 12 acre site of the former Trane plant 6.  The city plans to spend over 11 million dollars on improvements in the area that includes dozens of homes, several existing business and a city park.  Included in those costs is 750 thousand dollars to take down three billboards along Lang drive.  The real goal is to prep the Trane plant 6 site for a big development and the TIF will pay for additional remediation and fill to get the land out of the floodplain.  Meanwhile, a group of local developers are still hoping to secure low income housing tax credits for a large project on the 12 acre site.