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Talent urban renewal plan under fire By Tony Boom Aug 02, 2022 12:30 PM A A Plan is seeing opposition on many fronts Talent's proposal to create a new urban renewal district is generating a lot of opposition. [Mail Tribune/file photo] An unprecedented amount of input on creation of a new Talent urban renewals district — most of it in opposition — is being received at Talent City Hall. A series of posts on Facebook that detail impacts a new district would have — including loss of nearly $17 million in tax revenues for both the city of Talent and Jackson County Fire District No. 5 over the next 30 years — may be driving some of the input. Talent Urban Renewal Agency’s board of directors on June 29 approved moving creation of the new district, intended to help with rebuilding after the Almeda Fire, to the city for consideration. City Council will hold a public hearing on the plan Aug. 17, with a possible vote for adoption Aug. 24. The agency is in a period of consultation with 11 taxing districts that would be impacted by a new district. Talent City Recorder Hector Flores said he hasn’t seen input approach this level on any other issue since he began work in January 2021. As of Thursday afternoon, the city had received 16 written comments on creation of the new district for City Council’s Aug. 3 meeting. Of those, 15 were opposed to the creation. For the July 20 council meeting, comments ran eight against and three in favor. Flores said he has met with seven individuals, all of whom oppose the district. City Manager Jordan Rooklyn had met with five persons as of Thursday. In addition, City Hall workers are referring telephone callers seeking information on the proposal to the city and TURA websites. “They are coming in with concerns, particularly with fire safety. The strong majority are coming with questions to better understand what the impacts will be. We are getting more and more emails every day,” said Rooklyn. Details on how the district would impact city finances will be given at the Aug. 3 meeting. Former Talent resident Nancy Buono, after being asked by citizens, has created seven postings on TURA and the proposed district for the Talent Oregon Facebook group. They cover such topics as why the district is in such a rush, how many people are affected and how TURA has operated. “This is going to impact them. When you have (District 5) Chief (Charles) Hanley and all our firefighters and the fire union saying don’t do this, I don’t know why City Council isn’t listening. They are ignoring the experts,” said Buono. “I feel sorry for the people of Talent for 30 years.” Fire District 5 has mailed out information on the plan’s impact and how to offer input to inform the 23,000 residents it serves. The district covers Talent, Phoenix and much of the rural area in southern Jackson County. Copies of the draft plan and a letter on how to offer input have been sent to all 11 taxing district as required by Oregon statutes, said Rooklyn, who also serves as executive director of TURA. Comments on the plan must be received by Aug. 14 and will be considered by the council, which can accept, reject or modify the input, which would become part of a creating ordinance. “I’ve been getting a lot of requests for more information as they figure out how they are impacted and what sort of feedback they’d like to provide,” said Rooklyn. Agency representatives have met with the Jackson County Board of Commissioners and boards of directors from the fire district, library district and Rogue Valley Transportation District. Urban renewal districts gain funding from the increase in taxes coming from improvements after values are frozen at a set date, with overlapping taxing districts receiving none of the increase. For the TURA proposal, the value for the 212-acre district would be frozen as of Jan. 1, 2001, when much of the land was bare following the Almeda Fire. Rebuilding in the area since that date has already raised the value. The agency held a required briefing July 19 with the county commissioners, where they explained the proposal and answered questions. Commissioners and County Administrator Danny Jordan voiced concerns about the impact of the district. Delaying creation of the district for one year would result in a maximum indebtedness for the district of $58.8 million rather than $62.5 million if it was created this year, said consultant Elaine Howard. The lost amount could be made up by adding a couple of years to the district’s sunset date. A delay would mean the agency would initially have $4.2 million to work with in a couple of years rather than $7.7 million. Questioned on the amount of value going back onto the tax rolls with new construction in the proposed district, Rooklyn responded that $35 million is anticipated this year based on values of single-family homes. She worked with the county assessor to determine that number. “When you look at the assessed value of $35 million coming back on, it’s really disingenuous to our taxpayers ... that it will not be allowed to be put on the tax rolls for the taxing district,” said County Commissioner Colleen Roberts. “The state has already poured tens of millions into this disaster recovery. We know we have coming up the CDBG grants. You are looking at just over $200 million coming into the area. ... Of that, $13 million is for business recovery over the next four to five years,” said county commission Chair Dave Dotterrer. “What’s the necessity of having this additional funding?” Conditions will be attached to the federal Community Development Block Grant money, said Talent Mayor Darby Ayers-Flood. Some of the funding may not necessarily be of help for recovery, she said. Even with the aid, there could still be shortfalls. Ayers-Flood noted state statutes allow for urban renewal to deal with emergency situations, and that aid is needed to help businesses. She said 68 businesses were destroyed by the fire, but only 11 have obtained permits to rebuild. “You are taking a huge chunk which all of these districts were counting on for their recovery to use for your recovery. You are not doing what everyone else is doing,” Jordan said when Ayers-Flood claimed the TURA action would be similar to what other urban renewal districts in the area are doing. “All input will be weighed in whatever decision is being made. It’s not a foregone conclusion,” Ayers-Flood said at the end of the session. Reach Ashland freelance writer Tony Boom at [email protected].