City of Bend presents three proposed TIF areas to Deschutes County; county may submit comments by mid-May

City of Bend staff on April 16 presented three proposed tax-increment financing (TIF) areas to the Deschutes County Board of Commissioners and requested consult-and-confer comments before the plan adoption process continues.

Jonathan Taylor, the City of Bend’s urban renewal project manager, said the three proposed TIF areas would support four housing developments on historically underdeveloped or vacant parcels and that public outreach between May and September 2024 informed the proposals. The Bend Urban Renewal Agency adopted a tax-increment assistance policy for housing affordability and employment growth in October 2024, which sets minimum affordability requirements for projects seeking assistance.

Taylor said the projects would provide a combined several hundred housing units (presentations cited individual project totals of about 78 units in 1 project, 449 units in another and additional units across the proposals) and that developers would be required under the policy to restrict a portion of units—typically 15–20%—at or below 90 percent of area median income (AMI) for an extended period (30 years in the examples provided). He said the estimated total project costs and administration over 30–32 years vary by project; the presentation listed sample figures including a $14.2 million project cost and a $439,000 administration estimate for one project and a separate $8.7 million project on Central Oregon Community College land.

Taylor and county staff explained expected fiscal impacts to county general-fund revenue and overlapping taxing districts. For example, one site showed an average annual impact to the county general fund of about $501 per year (based on vacant land increment assumptions) while generating an estimated $3.9 million for schools, parks and fire over the life of the TIF (figures presented by the city). Another larger site was shown with an average annual impact to the county of about $7,500 and a projected generation of $2.6 million for schools, parks and fire when a previously publicly owned site (COCC) converts to taxable property.

County Real Estate and Facilities Director Matt Stewart noted the county already operates a program for 60–80 percent AMI housing (a full tax exemption program) and has a $5 million pro-housing HUD grant to deploy. Commissioners discussed AMI targeting: some expressed a desire for deeper affordability below 90 percent AMI (for example, 60–70 percent AMI) and asked about parking, local-contractor requirements and the city’s annual certification process for projects that receive TIF assistance. Taylor said the agency requires annual certification that projects meet the policy objectives and that funding reverts to taxing districts in any year a project fails to certify compliance.

The Board did not take a formal vote on the TIF plans at the meeting; county staff said the county may file consult-and-confer comments with the City of Bend through May 14 (the city’s hearing was scheduled for May 21), and commissioners asked staff to consider fiscal impacts to county services and taxing districts when drafting comments.