How to Hire an Attorney for Tax Increment Financing (TIF)
1. Confirm specialized public‑finance and TIF project experience in your state or locality
TIF is governed by state statutes and local implementation practice, ask whether the attorney has led multiple TIF projects in your state or municipality and for concrete examples (project ordinances, redevelopment agreements, bond issuances, and successful financing closings). Verify familiarity with the specific enabling statute, statutory steps (creation of redevelopment/urban renewal area, required findings, blight or economic‑distress tests, public‑hearing and notice rules), and local governance processes (city council, redevelopment authority, planning commission). Confirm they’ve handled both tax‑increment bond structuring and the political approvals needed to adopt a TIF district, and that they know interactions with overlapping taxing jurisdictions (schools, counties, special districts), including required intergovernmental notices, negotiation of revenue‑sharing or tax‑increment allocation formulas, and potential judicial review standards in your jurisdiction.
2. Require integrated legal, financial, and project‑delivery analysis with concrete documents and counsel coordination
TIF transactions combine legal drafting with detailed financial modeling. Insist the attorney produce or review core transaction documents: TIF plan and report, ordinance/resolution establishing the district, development agreement, interlocal revenue‑sharing agreements, bond or loan documents, and indemnity/assignment provisions. Ask for sample disclosure and findings language they have used to withstand administrative and judicial challenge. Confirm they coordinate with municipal finance advisors, bond counsel, underwriters, and municipal accountants to model projected increment, base‑year valuation, capture schedules, debt service coverage, reserve requirements, and termination triggers. Verify experience structuring security (limited‑recourse tax increment bonds, pay‑as‑you‑go notes, TIF‑backed loans) and negotiating lender covenants, priority liens, and cure/remedies for shortfalls.
3. Insist on a written engagement with phased deliverables, risk‑allocation strategies, and compliance/enforcement planning
Get a written engagement that lays out phases and deliverables: statutory findings and public‑hearing prep, drafting and adoption of the TIF plan and ordinance, negotiation of developer agreements and financing documents, closing and bond issuance support, and post‑closing compliance (reporting, increment accounting, and district wind‑down). Require transparent fee terms, flat fees for discrete documents, capped fees for negotiation phases, and hourly or success fees tied to financing closings, with explicit allocation of third‑party costs (appraisals, financial models, bond counsel, underwriter fees). Require a written risk matrix identifying key legal and financial risks (overly optimistic increment, recusals or referendum exposure, overlapping taxing‑jurisdiction objections, environmental remediation liabilities, and developer default scenarios) and negotiated mitigation tools (escrows, completion guarantees, tax‑increment diversion caps, step‑in rights, and mortgage‑priority structures). Finally, confirm the attorney will prepare compliance templates and monitoring checklists (annual reporting, audited increment reconciliation, and timeline for disbursements and bond calls) and outline litigation responses (defending ordinance adoption, handling petitions for writs, or negotiating intergovernmental disputes) so the TIF project proceeds with predictable approvals, financing, and long‑term oversight.
