Riverview School Board Members Provide TIF Update

Riverview School Board members continued to discuss the possibility of participating in Tax Increment Financing for the Rivers Edge of Oakmont development at its regular meeting earlier this week.

Brooks and Blair Homes LLC of Wexford, has asked the borough and the school board to participate in a TIF plan to help the company come up with the necessary money to redevelop a portion of the former Edgewater Steel site.

Under the TIF, the property’s three taxing bodies—the school district, Allegheny County and —would divert a portion of taxes collected from the property to put it back into financing the project.

The state’s TIF act gives local taxing bodies the authority to cooperate in providing financing for development of blighted areas to increase the tax base, provide new employment opportunities and improve the general economy.

The 28-acre Rivers Edge site would be located near the Edgewater at Oakmont housing development—an upscale residential community currently being built by Kacin Companies of Murrysville—and is expected to include single-family homes, condominiums, townhouses, a restaurant, parks and a private boat dock.

Board members Joe DiMario, John Hackworth and Dave Kadylak—all serve on the TIF committee—met with Brooks and Blairs Homes representatives to discuss a recent demographic study performed on the property.

DiMario said according to that study, about 40 percent of the people who move into the proposed homes will be singles and couples, 29 percent will be traditional families and 29 percent will be empty-nesters.

He said the study predicted less than 5 percent of people moving into the plan will be from Oakmont, and several hundred children will move in.

Hackworth said he's concerned the data used in the study is older data. The housing market also has taken a hit, and the company's prediction of selling 50 units per year might be unrealistic.

Kadylak said the TIF committee still has one more meeting to go before presenting suggestions and findings back to the board.