Scotts Valley council opens talks with county, fire district on financing tool to pay for town center infrastructure

Scotts Valley city leaders on Tuesday heard a consultant's feasibility analysis for creating an enhanced infrastructure financing district, or EIFD, and signaled consensus to continue partner outreach with Santa Cruz County and the Scotts Valley Fire Protection District to explore how the tool might help pay for town center infrastructure, affordable housing and regional transportation needs.

Joe Dominguez, a consultant from Cosmont, told the council the EIFD would not create any new tax for property owners but would designate a portion of future property-tax revenues from selected parcels and set that revenue aside for infrastructure and community benefits. "None of this involves creation of a new tax," Dominguez said. He presented scenario models showing a town-center-only boundary producing a relatively modest long-term revenue stream and a broader 236-acre boundary including housing-opportunity and pipeline-project sites that, with participating taxing agencies, could generate up to about $65 million in present-value revenue over a multi-decade term.

The analysis and council discussion repeatedly linked EIFD potential to the…