While most Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) Statements only impact cities which are required to prepare financial statements, GASB Statement No. 77 (GASB 77), Tax Abatements, is an exception. Every city which makes payments during the year ending June 30, on tax increment financing (TIF) development agreements, rebates or grants will play an important role in implementing GASB 77.
GASB 77 requires governments to disclose in the notes to their financial statements the amount of revenues they promise to forgo through agreements with individuals or entities which promise to take specific actions after the agreements have been entered into that contribute to economic development or otherwise benefit the governments or the citizens of those governments.
It also requires governments to disclose in the notes to their financial statements the portion of revenues which the government would have otherwise received that other governments have promised to forgo through their tax abatement agreements.
The trigger for GASB 77 is the city’s use of tax abatements related to rebates of Tax Increment Financing (TIF). If your city has paid tax abatements to an entity during the year from TIF revenue divided during the year, you will need to use the tool to send letters to all of the other governments impacted by your tax abatement.
Yes, you should send a letter to each of the taxing jurisdictions even if the amount for them is zero. This will document that you have complied with the requirements for all jurisdictions impacted by GASB 77.
No. They receive money only through payments from taxing authorities. Since they do not directly receive tax, they are not covered under GASB 77.
Yes, the calculator tool does adjust for both school levies by taxing authority.
The LMI requirements are not reportable under GASB 77 reporting requirements because they are used by the city and not an outside entity.
Yes, the city may receive letters from the county that uses tax abatements or rebates. (See GASB 77 calculator tools to see who you need to send letters to and who will send you letters.)
Yes, the letters are generated by the GASB 77 calculator tool. The city needs to fill in the numbers on the Summary tab, enter the name of the city contact person on the Letters tab and print out the letters generated on that worksheet.
The black lines indicate active TIF districts that receive increment in FY 17. The red lines are for those districts that are active but did NOT receive increment in FY 17.
No, the Council does not need to take any action.
Yes, you can email them. It is recommended that you also keep a copy of each letter to document when the letters were sent out and to whom. It is also recommended that you save the entire file to verify the calculations used for the city’s auditors.
Tax abatements under Iowa Code Chapter 404 are only included IF the Council must approve an application or contract PRIOR to the project eligibility for the tax abatement. These calculations are not included in the GASB 77 calculator tool as few cities have this prior approval.
Yes, it should. If there is a problem, please contact us using the staff contacts listed on this page.
The total amounts on the letters may not match/tie to the amount entered on the Summary tab because not all entities are audited. Only audited entities need to receive a letter.
Yes, the sample note disclosures can be found on the Auditor of State’s web site in Note 14 of the Sample Cash City report [starts on page 35 (Word version) or 36 (PDF version)] or Note 15 of the Sample GAAP City report (page 58). City exam reports do not include tax abatement information.
All changes to TIF taxing districts must be made through the County Auditor. The County Auditor will then make the appropriate changes in our valuation system, which will flow in to this GASB 77 disclosure tool.
The legal descriptions should be updated to clear the issue of overlapping TIF districts. This should be coordinated through your legal counsels and the County Auditor. The GASB 77 disclosure tool is built out of the taxing district information reported by the County Auditors, so any changes they make will be reflected in this system.
