A hotel developer eyeing Washington has asked the city for roughly $1.5 million over the course of 10 years, paid for with “tax increment financing,” or TIF. The incentive-making tool is effective for economic development, but complicated and sometimes controversial.
The Washington City Council recently approved the site plans for two facility projects from a non-profit organization and the Washington Community School District.
The council approved the major site plan for Hospice of Washington County pending the city engineer’s verification, and the minor site plan for the district’s redesign of Stewart Elementary’s south parking area, as per the city’s planning and zoning commission’s recommendation. Hospice plans to remove the old southern portion of their existing building which contains their basement, adding a stormwater retention basin as well as expanding the north side of their facility and adding a larger parking area to accommodate the growing need for services.