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Staff outlines how Oregon City urban renewal districts work and lists projects, constraints
Summary
City staff presented a primer on Oregon City’s two urban renewal districts, explaining how tax increment financing works, the districts’ boundaries and projects, and limits set by state law and Measure 50.
City staff gave the planning commission a detailed primer on how Oregon City’s urban renewal districts and tax increment financing operate and summarized current projects, statutory constraints and available funds.
Nancy Crusher, identified in the meeting as the city engineer, explained that Oregon City operates two urban renewal districts — one covering the downtown community plan area and a separate Hilltop district — and that both are governed by statutory urban renewal plans with defined boundaries. She described the districts’ purpose as using tax increment financing (TIF) to fund infrastructure and property acquisition intended to trigger redevelopment and raise the long‑term tax base for the community.
Key points staff presented:
- The downtown district boundary spans the McLaughlin corridor, the promenade area, the Clackamas Cove area and adjacent blocks, extending in places across Highway 213 and up to Seventh Avenue; it intentionally excludes the mill parcel bordering the river. - The Hilltop district covers property around Molalla Avenue, Beavercreek Road and areas that include county‑owned parcels and the Red Soils Campus Industrial Park. - Tax increment is the difference between the base (frozen) assessed value when the plan was adopted and current assessed value; that increment is captured for district projects rather than distributed to all taxing agencies. Staff noted the increment can fluctuate with assessed value changes. - Measure 50 established a maximum indebtedness for each district. Staff summarized earlier calculations showing a roughly $24,000,000 maximum for downtown and about $9,000,000 for the Hilltop district at the time of the Measure 50 update; current remaining balances were presented as roughly $21,000,000 downtown and about $6–7,000,000 in Hilltop (figures include prior expenditures and do not account for interest). - The agency receives revenues from the division of taxes (automatic each year) and an optional special levy the city commission may choose to collect in full or in part during budget decisions.
Crusher told commissioners the agency has used TIF funds for projects including streetscape blocks downtown, the Molalla/Beavercreek realignment, the Red Soils campus industrial park, acquisition of the Clackamas Cove property and support for a phased Amtrak station project. She said urban renewal often serves as a local match to leverage federal and state grants.
Commissioners asked about how boundaries were set, whether new districts could be created, the timing for a district’s expiration (which depends on when the district reaches its maximum indebtedness) and options for advance financing or bonds. Staff replied that districts can be created by ordinance and that adding land is constrained by statutory limits; creating a new district remains an option if the commission and city commission decide to pursue it.
Staff said the city is preparing a five‑year plan to prioritize projects, evaluate whether to use bonding or cash‑flow funding, and to coordinate urban renewal projects with the downtown community plan, metro and state transportation funding.
Staff urged the commission to provide input on corridor and sub‑area planning where urban renewal could support transportation and redevelopment objectives. Commissioners and staff also discussed brownfields and environmental cleanup responsibilities tied to some parcels the city bought for redevelopment.
The presentation was informational; no formal action was taken.
