Half of the new tax revenue from sales taxes and real estate taxes from a planned mall redevelopment in Warrenton will go to local emergency service districts.That’s according to a series of agreements approved by the Warrenton Board of Aldermen Jan. 17.Under the agreements, the Warren County Ambulance District, Warren County Sheriff’s Department, Warren County Dispatch and Warrenton Fire Protection District will receive 50 percent of new revenue from a tax increment financing district in the area around the Warrenton outlet mall.Tax increment financing, or TIF, is a system in which the city provides funding for an economic development project and is paid back by the resulting increases in real estate taxes and sales taxes from the development area. The total area that receives funding this way is called a TIF district.State law already requires that 50 percent of new sales tax revenue from a TIF district goes to any emergency services funded by sales taxes, said Warrenton Director of Operations Terri Thorn. The same requirement doesn’t extend to real estate taxes within the TIF district.Despite having the freedom to keep all the real estate tax revenue, the city’s new agreements with local emergency services will treat TIF revenue from sales taxes and real estate taxes equally, devoting half of each to the appropriate emergency service districts, Thorn said.Doing so will reduce the revenue available to pay back the TIF funds and make the repayment take longer. But reducing the amount of real estate taxes going toward the TIF funds doesn’t have as much of an impact as changes to sales taxes, Thorn said.“Real estate taxes are a much smaller portion of TIF funds,” she said.RAK Development has asked for $6 million in TIF funding to redevelop the defunct Warrenton outlet mall. The city would have 23 years to recuperate any TIF funds it provides for the project, Thorn said.Once the 23-year TIF time limit is up, the agreements with emergency agencies also will expire. With no TIF district in place, taxes from that area will then be allocated just like any other commercial area in the city.Other plots of real estate in the area around the mall and the site of a planned new Interstate 70 interchange are included in the TIF district. TIF funding will be available for development on those plots, but no specific plans or dollar amounts have been finalized.Emergency Services