OMAHA - From a new downtown Omaha skyscraper to the construction of a $220 million casino, massive projects have put 2022 on track to be a record-breaking year for tax-increment financing loans in the city.

Upward of $105 million in tax-increment financing, or TIF, has been approved in 2022, already exceeding the total in all of 2021.

Eight redevelopment agreements approved by the Omaha City Council accounted for the $105 million. The figure does not account for redevelopment plans approved by the City Council, a step that is taken before an agreement is considered.

TIF is a financing tool regularly used in Omaha since 1980 in local development efforts.

Proponents of the economic incentive champion it as a tool to encourage private investment in areas that need housing and revitalization.

Critics contend that the incentive is used too generously and is too often granted for developments that don’t contribute to civic improvements or affordable housing needs.

An average of $42.3 million in TIF has been approved per year from 2015-2021. Since 2000, the highest single-year total was in 2016 when thirty projects yielded nearly $70 million in TIF loans.

In 2021, 25 projects were approved for roughly $41 million in TIF loans.

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