Document text
Jacksonville will gain renewal agency The City Council votes to go ahead with a way to begin rehabilitating parts of the historic town By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune JACKSONVILLE - After two years of debate, the city has taken its first step in a plan that would rehabilitate blighted areas in Jacksonville. City Council voted 4-2 Tuesday to create an urban renewal agency. The ordinance clears the way for the council to study areas in need of repair in the historic community. "(Creating an agency) is exercising the authorization that is inherent in every city," said Paul Wyntergreen, city administrator. "Nothing happens until a plan is created and adopted." Some of the projects under consideration include upgrading storm drains, repairing deteriorating historic city-owned properties, rehabilitating the Britt Gardens, and upgrading much of the city's infrastructure and public facilities. Jacksonville resident Linda Graham, who serves on the Citizens' Advisory Committee, which reviews plans for downtown core improvement, said she wondered if some of the city's projects can't get their funding from such things as bonds. "I'm really torn, but at this point, they haven't proven to me that (an urban renewal district) is necessary," she said. "Maybe there's better ways that don't create another bureaucracy." She has some concerns about what happens when a city forms an urban renewal district. "Everyone in the county is affected," she said. "It gleans money from the tax base." Urban renewal projects are funded through tax-increment financing, which works as follows: Assessed values are frozen for a 20-year period. Taxes on property values above the frozen level are used for projects in the urban renewal district, which would stretch along California Street, from the city limits near the Texaco gas station to a block past Oregon street. Meanwhile, other taxing districts would not reap the benefits of assessed valuation increases, including Jackson County, Rogue Community College and Medford School District. But that's down the road, Graham acknowledged. "We're not going forward with an urban renewal district yet," she said. "I would like to see everyone vote on it." Wyntergreen says there's still lots of room for public input, which includes a possible ballot measure. Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.