The Business and Community Affairs Committee on Jan. 2 continued a multi-meeting discussion on creating a tax increment finance (TIF) master plan, reviewing draft project-area maps and conservative revenue projections aimed primarily at the Griffin state-owned property and adjacent commercial corridors.

The draft plan focuses on several increment districts, with staff presenting a large Griffin project area that would include Griffin Park, the Griffin Memorial Hospital property, parts of the Flood Avenue corridor and the Porter corridor. Catherine Walker, the city’s former attorney, said the preliminary, conservative estimate for total project costs across the proposed project area was “around $61,000,000” over a 25-year horizon.

Why it matters: A TIF plan would let the city dedicate future growth in property and certain non-dedicated sales-tax revenue within defined boundaries to pay for public improvements, development assistance and property acquisition. Committee members discussed using TIF proceeds for infrastructure, façade or small-business grants, chapel restoration, parks and potential purchase of Griffin Park and Sutton Wilderness.

Walker described how staff divided the project area into multiple increment districts to concentrate taxable redevelopment where it is likely to occur. For an example increment district near North Flood and Robinson staff used cautious development assumptions — roughly $2,000,000 of potential private investment and about 20,000 square feet of retail over 25 years. For a downtown-adjacent increment that includes hospital property staff estimated about $20,000,000 of potential development investment and roughly 30,000 square feet of retail over 25 years. For Griffin — the largest increment district — staff used an urban-mixed assumption tied to the ULI report and estimated about $80,000,000 of potential development with roughly 100,000 square feet of retail over 25 years.

Walker said staff modeled a 60% split of future non-dedicated sales-tax growth to the TIF district (matching an approach used in a prior city plan) and assumed the full increment of ad valorem (property tax) growth would be available to the TIF where new taxable property is created. "You can combine all of those and then choose any project within the project area and use those funds to cover that," Walker said, describing how revenues from multiple increment districts can fund projects inside the larger project area.

Committee members asked about financing options. Walker said the city could issue revenue bonds backed by pledged TIF revenues if there is sufficient documentation and commitments to satisfy lenders. She also said the city could cash-flow projects from the general fund and later reimburse the general fund from TIF receipts. The committee noted both opportunities and risks; one member observed that using large up-front general-fund advances to acquire property (for example, Sutton Wilderness or Griffin Soccer Park) could consume future budget flexibility.

Staff described possible eligible uses in two broad categories: assistance and development financing (for example, façade or small-business grants, employment-generation incentives and development agreements) and public infrastructure (streets, water and sewer, streetscape, landscaping, park improvements and restoration projects such as a chapel restoration noted in the presentation).

Next steps and outstanding items: staff will continue refining projections and formulas, return with a draft project plan and maps, and follow up on appraisals and state processes. Walker said the state appraisal work (through OMES) is under way and that a willing buyer/seller relationship with the state property could make the state a “willing applicant” to advance a TIF. The committee directed staff to return with additional detail on the South Norman area projections and with cost estimates for illustrative projects such as a North Flood streetscape.

The committee did not take any formal vote; staff will bring the refined draft project plan, updated maps and additional financial detail to a future meeting for further consideration and potential formal action.