El Paso County approves TIF deal to fund downtown Moreno and Cascade redevelopment

The El Paso County Board of County Commissioners on Nov. 18 approved a tax-increment financing (TIF) agreement with the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority for the Moreno and Cascade Urban Renewal Plan, authorizing an exhibit that phases a sales-tax increment while allocating 100% of the county's property-tax increment to the project.

County economic development director Crystal Latier introduced the request, saying the project covers about 1.69 acres in downtown Colorado Springs and will be built in two phases: a 181-key hotel as phase 1 and a later attainable-housing phase. Latier said the total development cost is currently estimated at about $88,000,000 and that the URA had followed a multi-step internal and public review process before bringing the formal request to the board.

Chief Financial Officer Nikki Simmons outlined the county’s fiscal analysis. Simmons said the combined county request amounts to roughly $5.9 million to $6.0 million over 25 years, with a net present value of about $3.4 million to $3.5 million, and that staff provided stepped sales-tax scenarios to reduce a potential TABOR “cliff” effect at the end of the TIF period. "The request right now would be for about $3,200,000 over the 25 years," Simmons said, and she presented alternate exhibits that step down the sales-tax percentage in later years so the change to the county’s TABOR base would be moderated.

Representatives from the Colorado Springs Urban Renewal Authority and the developer, Norwood Development Group, described the condition study and the work needed in the project area. Jiraiya Walker, URA executive director, said the URA and other taxing entities had approved or were in the process of approving the plan. Developer Chris Jenkins argued TIF tools are often required to make urban redevelopment feasible, and Jeff Finn, Norwood senior vice president, described the proposed streetscape, accessibility, and parking improvements.

Commissioners pressed for detail on the blight findings and the scope of eligible public improvements. Commissioner Lauren Nelson proposed that the county cover roughly half of the prioritized public-improvement costs, which staff translated into a stepped sales-tax exhibit that yields an effective 60% county sales-tax increment across the plan’s timeline. Nelson said the county’s participation should focus on infrastructure rather than discretionary items: "Like, we're not going to pay for public art," she said, "but utilities, street improvements, the parking garage — those things make sense for the county to be partnering on."

Nelson moved to approve Exhibit B — the stepped-sales-tax schedule paired with 100% of county property-tax increment — and the motion was seconded. The board approved the agreement on a 5-0 roll call. The vote authorizes staff to attach the referenced Exhibit B to the TIF agreement and proceed to the next steps with the URA and the development team.

What happens next: the URA has reported unanimous internal approval and expects related approvals (Pikes Peak Library District and city council action) as the plan proceeds; the URA director said the project will continue through those other taxing-entity approvals before construction begins.

Votes at a glance: the motion to approve Exhibit B (the stepped sales-tax exhibit and property-tax increment as presented) passed 5–0.

Reporting notes: statements and numbers above reflect remarks on the record from county staff, the URA, the developer and commissioners during the Nov. 18 meeting; dollar figures are staff estimates presented during the meeting and are described in rounded terms when staff did so.