Core Area Advisory Board re-elects chair and reviews TIF plan, $8.9M near-term deployment
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Summary
Bend’s Core Area Advisory Board re-elected its chair and vice chair and received a detailed briefing on tax increment financing and an urban-renewal investment strategy that targets 1,000 multifamily units and 500 jobs across three districts.
Core Area Advisory Board members confirmed their leadership for 2026 and spent the meeting’s principal hearing on tax increment financing and an urban-renewal investment strategy aimed at spurring redevelopment in Bend’s core.
At the start of the meeting, Cathy Austin nominated the incumbent and longtime meeting facilitator for another term; John Hillen seconded the motion and members approved it by voice vote. The board then confirmed Dale Van Valkenburg as vice chair. Later in the agenda the board voted unanimously to approve the Nov. 19 meeting minutes.
Staff gave a primer on tax increment financing (TIF), describing it as “using a financial mechanism that uses tomorrow’s revenues today to mitigate blight conditions and improve property values,” according to Jonathan, the city staff member presenting the overview. He said the urban-renewal entity that carries out TIF work is a separate corporate body (Burra/Bend Urban Renewal Agency) and not the city itself. Jonathan cited ORS 457 and noted the federal Housing Act of 1949 as TIF’s historical origin.
Key figures presented to board members: the core-area TIF plan established in 2020 uses a frozen base of about $443 million; the plan term ends in 2050 with payments through fiscal year 2051. The plan’s maximum indebtedness is $195 million. For the three urban-renewal districts combined, staff said Burra plans roughly $41.4 million in investment over an initial period, with core-area near-term deployment of about $8.9 million aimed at catalyzing private development.
Staff outlined program goals and eligible uses of TIF proceeds: water and sewer, transportation and streetscape projects, parks and open space, land purchases, developer incentives, and programs intended to leverage private investment. The agency’s stated five-year targets include building 1,000 multifamily units and supporting 500 jobs; staff described those as planning targets, not approvals of specific projects.
Board members asked technical and policy questions about eligible projects, plan amendment processes, and how TIF revenues are divided among overlapping taxing districts. Jonathan told the group that the TIF division does not increase tax rates but reallocates incremental revenue among taxing districts until the plan terminates.
The chair closed the presentation by reminding members that the board’s advisory role includes recommending how to allocate TIF funding and managing a revitalization-grant program that the agency delegated to the board.
What’s next: staff will return with more detailed financial-policy materials and site-level analysis in coming meetings as the board shifts from a high-level primer to program design and grant administration.
