Council receives briefing on Tigard tax-increment financing districts, goals and spending to date

Redevelopment Manager Sean Fairley gave a detailed briefing on Tigard’s tax-increment financing (TIF) districts, describing how TIF works, statutory limits and the agency’s investments to date.

Fairley said Tigard operates two TIF districts: the City Center (established 2006) and the Triangle (established 2017). He reported that the City Center’s maximum indebtedness is approximately $42,800,000 with about $30,300,000 remaining; the district was amended in 2017 and 2021 and is scheduled to expire in 2035. Fairley said the Triangle district’s maximum indebtedness is approximately $188,000,000 with roughly $79,000,000 remaining and a scheduled expiration in 2052.

He reviewed projects the agency has helped fund including streetscape and street improvements in the city center, Universal Plaza, facade and building improvement grants, and support for mixed-use and affordable-housing projects. In the Triangle, Fairley said the agency’s early investments included transportation planning, the 70th Avenue/72nd Avenue corridor improvements (design phase), an affordable-housing partnership and the Red Rock Creek Trail planning. He noted about 730 apartments have been built or are under construction in the Triangle since the district formed; not all projects relied on TIF, he said, but the district helped “prime the pump.”

Fairley explained key limitations in Oregon law (for cities over 50,000 population) limiting TIF acreage and assessed-value share and described the public process for adopting or amending a TIF plan, including findings about blight and required public notice. Councilors asked several clarifying questions about how the frozen base is treated, the effect on other taxing jurisdictions (including schools) and how maximum indebtedness is estimated. Fairley said borrowing decisions are paced so debt service can be paid from projected TIF revenues and that the agency must balance immediate project funding with long-term debt capacity.

Councilors discussed whether the city could be more aggressive in deploying TIF to accelerate projects; Fairley and staff said there are trade-offs because borrowing must be structured to match expected TIF flows and to preserve capacity for future projects and grant leveraging.

Fairley said staff will continue to analyze timing and financing options and to pursue grants and partnerships to implement priority projects.