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City planning staff delivers 'TIF 101' as council considers related TIF agreement
Summary
City Planning staff provided a detailed Tax Increment Financing (TIF) overview: a property must be in a Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) designated as substandard or blighted under state law, TIF rebates incremental taxes to the developer usually for 15 years, and CRA boundaries and reevaluation rules were discussed; the TIF item related to the 7630 Pacific project was on the agenda.
Bridget Hadley of City Planning briefed the council on the basics of tax increment financing, describing TIF as a redevelopment tool that rebates new tax revenue generated by a project back to the developer to help pay construction debt. She explained TIF requires the property to be in a designated Community Redevelopment Area that meets state-law definitions of substandard and blighted conditions, and noted the designation process relies on census geographies and a public study.
Hadley explained that the rebate typically lasts about 15 years (sometimes 20 in special cases), that projects are vetted through pre-application staff review and the TIF Committee, and that the program requires planning-board and council approval. Council members asked how CRA boundaries are established and how long a CRA designation lasts; Hadley said recent changes to the community development law require cities to reevaluate CRA designations after roughly 30 years. The TIF discussion was connected to the earlier Pacific Street infill items and a TIF agreement for that project appeared on the council's agenda.
