OMAHA- Developers behind a plan to transform Omaha’s Horsemen’s Park into one of Nebraska’s first casinos are counting on the city to pony up $17.5 million in tax incentives to bring the project over the finish line. A $220 million plan by WarHorse Gaming Omaha — a subsidiary of Ho-Chunk Inc., the economic development arm of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska — calls for a significant renovation and expansion of the current Horsemen’s campus near 60th and Q streets.

The development group seeks TIF to help complete the Casino funding. Tax increment financing, known as TIF, is a popular, sometimes controversial redevelopment tool based in state law that allows developers to take out a loan to help cover eligible redevelopment expenses in areas that have been deemed blighted.

The loan is paid back, generally over a 15-year period, by using the increased property taxes that are generated on the new development. During the TIF period, the property owner continues to pay a portion of property taxes based on the valuation that existed before any improvements. After the TIF loan is repaid, property taxes collected on the higher-value, improved property then start flowing to the tax rolls.

The TIF request faces opposition. Pat Loontjer, the executive director of Gambling With The Good Life who for decades has led the charge against legalized gambling in Nebraska, said she thinks the TIF request is an abuse of the program.

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