Development Incentives

The City of Janesville is committed to fostering economic growth and continuing to revitalize the Downtown. The City offers tax increment financing, loans for certain work on buildings located in the Downtown, and historic preservation tax credits for income-producing historic buildings. For more information about any of these programs, please contact the City's Economic Development Office at (608)-755-3059 or KubornJ@janesvillewi.gov.

Downtown Revolving Loan Fund Program 

The Downtown Revolving Loan Program makes small loans available to eligible applicants seeking to improve buildings they own or operate out of in Downtown Janesville. The DRLF will only provide the funds that allow an applicant to move forward with a development project in Downtown Janesville. Eligible activities include façade renovation, the creation or improvement of upper-story residential units, fire sprinkler system improvements, and more. For a full list of eligible improvements and a full list of items that must be completed before applying for a loan, please see below: 

What is it?

TIF is a state regulated finance tool municipalities may use to finance infrastructure and encourage development or redevelopment projects that “but for” the financing tool, would not otherwise take place.  

Why use it?

TIF not only helps expand a municipality’s tax base, but also aids business expansion, retention, and encourages orderly development or redevelopment within the city. Improvements in the area must significantly enhance the overall value of real property within the district. Project costs must relate directly to eliminating blight, rehabilitation, or conservation of the area, or promote industrial development. TID incentives encourage private investment and may include land acquisition and/or building rehabilitation/construction. In return, the developer guarantees an assessed property value and/or the retention or creation of additional jobs over a period of time.

View the Tax Increment Financing Application.

How does it work?

When a Tax Incremental District (TID) is created, the property tax base for all taxing entities (the municipality, schools, county, and technical colleges) is held constant for the life of the TID. Any new increment created by development or redevelopment within the TID is collected by the TID fund and used for eligible improvement projects. The TID is dissolved once the projects within the project plan are complete, there is a positive balance and the bonds for the projects are paid off. The positive balance and the value of the tax base is then distributed proportionally to the taxing entities.

Tax Increment Financing (TIF) in Janesville's downtown is made on a case-by-case basis.  All projects must adhere to a strict "but for" TIF assistance the project would not occur rule.  Meaning that without the infusion of financial assistance from the TID, the project could not move forward.  If approved by the City Council, most projects will receive TIF assistance in the form of Pay-As-You-Go.  This type of TIF assistance is in essence a percentage of the increment generated from a project paid out over a period of time. This is different than an up-front incentive, where a cash incentive might be used to assist a project.

If you are interested in learning more about what incentives your business or project may be eligible to receive, please contact the Economic Development Office at 608-755-3059.  

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