Local/Regional News

Improved infrastructure, new public restrooms: central Michigan cities look to invest in downtowns

WCMU | By Masha Smahliuk

Published July 8, 2025 at 4:08 PM EDT

The Mount Pleasant City Commission approved a proposal to renew its downtown Tax Increment Finance Authority on June 23. "Taxes still are considered public dollars, so anytime we can invest those back into alleviating public costs, that's my big interest," Mount Pleasant Mayor Boomer Wingard said. "And so if we can address infrastructure costs and focus that development in the downtown area to make sure that it is a great place to come to, to walk around in, and to a great climate in which to run a business, that is my focus there." — The Mount Pleasant City Commission approved a proposal to renew its downtown Tax Increment Finance Authority on June 23. "If we can address infrastructure costs and focus that development in the downtown area to make sure that it is a great place to come to, to walk around in, and to a great climate in which to run a business, that is my focus there," Mount Pleasant Mayor Boomer Wingard said.

Two cities in mid-Michigan are looking into developing their downtowns through expanding areas where tax money can be applied.

Dana Walker with the Michigan Downtown Association said downtowns are the hearts of cities and major drivers of local economies.

“Particularly since 2020 we have seen a real increase in the importance of downtowns,” Walker said. “The events that downtown organizations host are back. ... We're seeing a big push to create common public spaces so that people can gather.”

One of the cities looking to invest in their downtown is Clare. City Manager Jeremy Howard presented an ordinance to expand the Downtown Development Authority (DDA) at the city commission meeting on June 16.

Walker said DDA is an economic development government organization that is designed to invest in downtown areas.

The DDA uses Tax Increment Financing or TIF funds to support the work they do, Walker said. It isn’t an additional tax, and if the money isn’t spent in downtown, the appropriate taxing jurisdiction would receive the funds.

The Clare city commission is considering expanding the Downtown Development Authority to include this historical depot into the district, which means the upgrades in that area can be supported by tax dollars. "There are now three entities that are housed inside the depot," Clare City Manager Jeremy Howard said. "Part of it is a railroad museum that you can go in and tour and see many artifacts from the time when trains were very, very popular. We have lots of trains through the city all the time, still as a very bustling train city. But then there's part of the building that's dedicated to the Arts Council." — The Clare City Commission is considering expanding the Downtown Development Authority to include its historical depot into the district, which means the upgrades in that area can be supported by tax dollars.

The expanded DDA district in Clare would capture a historical railroad depot, which means city tax dollars could be used for that part of the downtown area, Howard said.

The city hopes to construct public restrooms next to the depot, which is a trailhead for the Pere Marquette Rail Trail that connects Midland to Clare.

“I think from a tourism standpoint, that could be a key piece too, for the trailhead or for the depot itself,” Howard said.

The Mount Pleasant City Commission approved the renewal of a government body that collects taxes for its downtown on June 23, said Mayor Boomer Wingard.

This body is known as a tax increment financing authority, or TIFA. According to the Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency, TIFA, similarly to DDA, can work to promote economic growth.

The Mount Pleasant downtown TIFA district was created in the 1980s, but its funds haven’t been used for the downtown since 2019. Wingard said while TIFA was capturing the tax money, they were just going to the city’s general fund.

But now that the TIFA is renewed, the money would have to be used only in the downtown borders for things like maintaining its infrastructure, fixing irrigation issues, improving facades and supporting businesses, Wingard said.

“This is a pretty great resource that's available to the city, and it can create really great investments into one of our best economic drivers of being the historic downtown area,” he said.

Walker said expanding their DDAs and TIFAs could be beneficial for the cities because it can also attract developers and be a good tool for writing grants.

“To say a blanket statement like all downtown DDA should expand, I'm not going to say that,” Walker said. “But it's local control and really studying and figuring out what makes sense for that municipality to whether or not they should expand the TDA district or not.”

Howard said Clare’s downtown is something the community is proud of.

“Claire is very unique, that you can drive through on a random Tuesday and there will be people walking around downtown and going to shops and going to dinner,” he said. “We're blessed that we have a very thriving downtown.”

Howard said Clare’s City Commission will hold the second hearing of the ordinance to expand the downtown area on July 7 and will likely vote on the DDA.