Councilman Adam Cernovich said after Tuesday’s City Council meeting that he is purchasing the Mirocha’s auto service facility in the 300 block of West Fifth Street. Cernotich said the building will be used to house and work on his family’s collection of Model T cars. Since council members aren’t allowed to purchase property in a TIF district, the council Tuesday voted to remove the Mirocha property from the city’s Downtown TIF District. [Photo by Michael Berry]

For many years, Kewanee has had a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) program that provides money to local businesses for improvements to their property.

The idea of the program is for those improvements to increase the value of the properties, resulting in higher property taxes. Those tax increases go back into the city’s TIF fund to be used for more grants to businesses.

But in Kewanee, things haven’t been working that way.

At Tuesday’s City Council meeting, Councilman Adam Cernovich said he had met with the Wethersfield Township assessor and learned that while assessments of residential properties in Kewanee have been rising, assessments of commercial real estate have not.

Cernovich suggested that this means the city should take another look at how it decides which TIF grant applications to approve.

Things to consider, he said, include determining how much money the borrower should put up to match the city grant, and having the borrower verify that the TIF-funded improvements to the property actually increased that property’s equalized assessed valuation.

Cernovich also suggested — and Mayor Gary Moore agreed — that the city could use some of the money in its TIF fund for infrastructure improvements.

The councilman said he doesn’t want the council to “repeat past mistakes” in administering the TIF program.

Also Tuesday:

— The council approved a TIF allocation of $21,414 to Vandemore Wellness Center to pay for equipment upgrades at its Hollis Street facility.

— A city micro-loan of up to $25,000 was approved for Head Nods and High Fives, the company operating the pizza restaurant at Tremont and Second streets.

Business owner Kevin Newton said he might not need that much money if his application for a Small Business Administration loan for the property is approved.

— The council approved participation in the Quad Cities-Muscatine-Kewanee Safety Action Plan.

The plan, developed by the Bi-State Regional Commission, aims to reduce property-damage auto accidents by making safety improvements to local roadways.