It's just "coincidence."

But Shane Davis, the city of Huntsville's director for urban and planning development, knows what you will be thinking. And he admits he'd be thinking the same thing.

Huntsville officials say the dots don't necessarily connect but it's not hard to do a little connecting anyway:

Reports in November said that the Toyota Mazda joint plant, which will provide about 4,000 jobs, will

A prime site in Alabama - in Huntsville-annexed Limestone County - has seen

The Huntsville city council last month began the process of creating a special tax district that would include the possible Toyota Mazda plant site that would accelerate infrastructure for the area.

"Coincidence," Davis said.

Still, when Mayor Tommy Battle came to Davis to begin discussions of creating a tax increment financing (TIF) district covering about 5,200 acres of city-owned land in Limestone County that would include the certified TVA megasite, Davis may well have rolled his eyes in amazement.

It's the timing, you see. And Davis knows what conclusion you - and pretty much everyone - would immediately jump to.

"I made that comment to the mayor," Davis said in an interview with AL.com. "We're doing this the worst possible time in the world because it's going to cause people's minds to just race. And my mind, if I was a citizen, would race. I wish our chances were as good as your mind might race but we just don't comment on those (possibilities)."

Indeed, Huntsville's city hall is a tight-lipped organization when it comes to pursuing economic development projects. The city needed prodding last year to even acknowledge that it was submitting a bid to jump into the very public competition to land the second Amazon headquarters - a frenzy that led one city to change its name to Amazon for a day.

But while the timing of the new TIF perhaps stirs a frenzy of its own about the Toyota Mazda plant (and, presumably, even the new Amazon HQ), Davis and Battle insist it's simply a matter of the city trying to best leverage its assets to attract more assets to the Rocket City.

The city is working with the Huntsville-Madison County Chamber of Commerce on more than 50 economic development projects. So while Toyota Mazda - and those 4,000 jobs, plus possible additional business it may bring to its new plant site as a sort of jobs-creating Pied Piper - there are dozens of other possibilities on the table.

"If you really kind of think about it, it can be a huge catalyst because it allows us to accelerate infrastructure you need to have," Davis said of a TIF project. "So when you start competing on a project, you think how competitive can you be. I can show you a piece of property and say if you come to this property, I promise to do all these things. A lot of companies say that doesn't fit my timeline.

"If all those things are in place - water, gas, sewer, electric - I might pick that. So it's being progressive rather than waiting. It's kind of a build it and you know they will come someday rather than saying if they come, we'll build it. You can lose out on a lot of projects if you say, if you'll commit, we'll go do it. It doesn't fit the timeline."

So what is a TIF?

In a simplified explanation, it's a mechanism that allows governments to make upfront investments in a property with the expectation of recouping that investment through future revenue streams. It takes tax dollars and earmarks them, in this case, for those infrastructure projects that will provide shovel-ready sites that Davis said industry wants.

The risk, of course, is identifying highly-valued property or projects that will justify the creation of a TIF.

When Huntsville created its last TIF, within two years Polaris opened a manufacturing facility that is expected to eventually provide 1,700 jobs to the region.

"One of the key words is shovel-ready," Davis said. "The closer you are to shovel-ready, you stay in the game a lot longer."

Battle told the city council last month that the new TIF is sought so the city will be "ahead of the game" when it comes to industrial recruitment.

The TIF is set for a public hearing at Thursday's council meeting at 6 p.m. at city council chambers at 320 Fountain Circle.

"The volume of inquiries and the volume of business that has come in across the United States," Battle told AL.com of the timing to pursue a new TIF. "We're seeing almost a renaissance of commercial business happening. We're seeing a lot of it ourselves so this is perfect timing."

Indeed, Davis pointed to the growing economy as a reason the TIF was needed. Companies are eager to spend money, he said, and Huntsville wants to make it as easy as possible.

"We've got so many projects that are trying to make a close decision and they are all over the place (in Huntsville)," Davis said. "It's a proud city to be in. We've got projects in south Huntsville, north Huntsville, east in the Chase area, out west. They are all making decisions. We're seeing this really big activity U.S.-wide of companies kind of wanting to turn loose some money and invest in America and create jobs.

"We want to compete. We've always wanted to compete. We've done a good job of competing. But because of that influx you're starting to see in the United States, states and cities are getting super, super competitive. And it's that razor-thin edge between a win and a loss and we think this TIF district puts another item in our toolbox."

But as for Toyota Mazda? Just a coincidence.

"It's better to be prepared than not," Davis said. "How about that?"