MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – The Marquette Downtown Development Authority held a special meeting Thursday morning to approve its fiscal year 2027 budget.
A notable impact on this budget comes after the city utilized more TIF (Tax Increment Financing) funds on multiple projects surrounding parking and safety, creating a much larger deficit than in 2026 by hundreds of thousands of dollars.
DDA Director Tara Laase-McKinney says this shows these funds are being reinvested back into the downtown area, fulfilling a main mission of the board.
The new budget includes plans for improvements in things like the city’s wayfinding program, intending to add more directional signage around the district in 2027, something that has been requested for over a decade.
“We’re excited to actually be able to start acting on some of the plans that we’ve had in place for several years now, and continuing to improve downtown Marquette,” said Laase-McKinney.
The DDA’s next meeting will be held August 13th at 8 a.m. in the Marquette Commons building.
