Urban renewal district could go to voters.

Byline: Jack Moran The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - City voters in November could be asked to support a plan to dedicate local tax dollars to redevelopment work in downtown Springfield.

The City Council will decide on Monday whether Springfield planners should prepare a November ballot issue requesting voter approval of a downtown urban renewal district. The plan would allocate a portion of property taxes to help upgrade infrastructure and possibly buy blighted properties throughout the corridor.

Springfield Mayor Sid Leiken has promoted the idea of creating the district as a way to show downtown property owners that city government is serious about wanting to draw more economic activity into the area.

But if city councilors are wary about plans for a November election, Leiken said he would support delaying the measure until next spring.

"I want us to do it right," he said. "If we can do it by November, that's great. But we need to make sure that everyone (on the City Council) is on board and comfortable with it."

Councilors earlier this year authorized city staff members to begin studying the issue.

"I'm assuming they are going to say go ahead in November," City Manager Gino Grimaldi said.

City planners say the main advantage of placing a measure on the November ballot is that if it were approved, tax revenue for the district would begin accruing in July 2008 - a year sooner than if it passed in an election next spring.

The primary drawback of forcing the issue in November is that it gives city officials just a few months to educate the public about the plan.

In a renewal district, cities channel into a special downtown fund any increases in the property taxes that owners in the district pay. Without the existence of the special downtown fund, those increases in property tax payments would go into the city's general fund, to be used for city-wide purposes.

The advantage of a renewal district: It's a way for government over a period of years to assemble cash to undertake revitalization work. Plus, a city can borrow money for downtown work against the anticipated tax stream. The drawback: the system withholds that money from city-wide projects.

Eugene officials in 1968 created an urban renewal district for their downtown. The city has used the money to make many capital improvements in the district, including building the new public library and redeveloping streets and landscaping. Despite the public investment, parts of downtown Eugene remain dotted with empty buildings.

Springfield voters in 2004 approved an urban renewal district for Glenwood. The City Council will discuss Monday whether a new downtown district should be combined with the Glenwood district. Merging the two districts would allow tax revenue from Glenwood properties to be used downtown, and vice versa.

Final City Council approval of a November ballot measure is tentatively set for July 23.