Lynnwood advances plan to form city‑center tax‑increment finance area; state treasurer flagged monitoring steps

City economic development staff and consultants updated the Lynnwood City Council May 19 on a planned tax‑increment financing (TIF) area for Lynnwood City Center that would capture property‑tax growth from new development in a defined boundary and use those incremental revenues to finance public infrastructure.

Why it matters: TIF (also called tax‑increment financing) redirects property‑tax revenue attributable to new development inside the TIF boundary for a fixed period (statute allows up to 25 years, or until improvements are paid). Lynnwood staff say the tool can accelerate infrastructure construction in the city center and position the city to leverage grants by becoming “shovel‑ready.”

Scope and timeline: Economic development manager Ben Walters and consultant Bob Stowe told council members the city has completed a required project analysis and submitted it to the Office of the State Treasurer (OST). OST returned a review (April 14) with six recommendations, including: (1)…