OPINION: Vote yes for Measure 3-605

Urban renewal is a financing tool used to support improvements in a specific area of the city to draw private investment and facilitate long-term gains. These improvements are selected to spur private investment that otherwise, may never occur. Urban renewal has been used for Wilsonville Road and Boeckman Road improvements, undergrounding utilities, Murase Plaza, the Villebois parks, Wilsonville HS field improvements, the sewer plant upgrade and many other projects.

As property taxes increase over time, the incremental value — the value beyond what was established when the urban renewal area was started — can be used to support public infrastructure projects. The base revenue continues to go to the original taxing districts. Only the incremental revenue that exceeds the original base goes to the urban renewal district. Don’t forget, this incremental value is often fueled by the development projects that are happening in this urban renewal area.

While overlapping taxing districts do forgo this incremental revenue during the life of the district, it is important to consider if this incremental revenue would look the same without the urban renewal investments in the first place. The Year 2000 UR Plan, which ended last year, saw an over 800% increase in assessed value. Without urban renewal, this never would have been realized, our city would be lacking many amenities and our taxing districts would have never seen those gains that they now benefit from. See www.wilsonvilletowncenter.com for more information.

Andrew Karr

Wilsonville