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Committee amends Bedrock riverfront TIF language to reserve neighborhood oversight; amendment passes with one dissent
Summary
An amendment to the Bedrock/riverfront TIF legislation (supplement to ordinance 7‑46‑2024) was approved that limits an internal allocation change from 100% to 90% and requires further legislative approval for neighborhood investment disbursements; the amendment passed in committee with Councilwoman Ginny Spencer recorded as opposed.
Committee members approved an amendment and then the ordinance as amended relating to the Bedrock riverfront tax increment financing (TIF) framework, adding legislative oversight of neighborhood investment disbursements.
City counsel presented an amendment dated Jan. 17, 2024, that added new sections and struck a 100% allocation figure, replacing it with 90% in a specified paragraph. Councilman Hairston said the change was intended to protect the neighborhood investment component and to ensure that future allocations would return to council for deliberation. Senior adviser to the mayor Jessica Trevisano told the committee that existing legislation already requires the city to return to council for uses of proceeds, and that the amendment establishes a process and timeline tied to riverfront public improvements.
During extended discussion councilmembers asked whether and how the amendment would guarantee neighborhood investments, who would set guardrails and how proceeds would be allocated across neighborhoods. Councilwoman Ginny Spencer said she was not prepared to vote for the measure without seeing the broader neighborhood investment snapshot and later asked to be recorded as a no vote for the committee. The chair and lead negotiators said the change buys time for a separate, more detailed council review of neighborhood investment and that Bedrock’s commitments (including a private $25 million commitment staged with bond issuances and CBA commitments) will accelerate available funds for neighborhoods earlier than under the prior schedule.
The amendment was moved and seconded, debated and approved in committee; committee members then approved the ordinance as amended. The chair recorded Councilwoman Spencer as opposed in committee and asked administration staff to follow up with additional briefings for council members.
Why it matters: The change affects how much of the shorter‑term TIF district can be allocated to riverfront improvements versus neighborhood investments in later years and adds a legislative checkpoint to determine neighborhood use of proceeds instead of leaving allocation solely to administrative action.
