Start Date
9-12-2016 9:30 AM
End Date
9-12-2016 10:30 AM
Description
Urban renewal programs have been used by local governments around the country to revitalize blighted areas and promote economic development of under-utilized land. As federal funding sources were reduced or disappeared, tax increment financing (TIF) became a major source of income to fund urban renewal projects. TIF programs, however, may create assessment and legal issues in the areas in which they are applied. This presentation will discuss the legal methods used to authorize and promote, or deny and limit, TIF systems for urban renewal across the country, the history behind the broad use of certain program designs, and the differences of each system in their influence on the underlying tax system. This analysis will necessarily include a review of current statutory and case law driving the use of each method in certain jurisdictions. Then, some of the legal challenges faced by governments using TIF to finance urban renewal plans will be discussed, including possible conflicts with state laws concerning uniformity of assessment, the effects on commercial competition and fairness between areas in and out of TIF zones, and the intersection of tax increment financing, property tax rates, and school funding.
Recommended Citation
Dornfest, Alan AAS and Brown, George Esq., "Urban renewal and tax increment financing" (2016). IAAO Annual Legal Seminar. 10.
https://researchexchange.iaao.org/legal/legal16/sessions/10
Urban renewal and tax increment financing
Urban renewal programs have been used by local governments around the country to revitalize blighted areas and promote economic development of under-utilized land. As federal funding sources were reduced or disappeared, tax increment financing (TIF) became a major source of income to fund urban renewal projects. TIF programs, however, may create assessment and legal issues in the areas in which they are applied. This presentation will discuss the legal methods used to authorize and promote, or deny and limit, TIF systems for urban renewal across the country, the history behind the broad use of certain program designs, and the differences of each system in their influence on the underlying tax system. This analysis will necessarily include a review of current statutory and case law driving the use of each method in certain jurisdictions. Then, some of the legal challenges faced by governments using TIF to finance urban renewal plans will be discussed, including possible conflicts with state laws concerning uniformity of assessment, the effects on commercial competition and fairness between areas in and out of TIF zones, and the intersection of tax increment financing, property tax rates, and school funding.
