Cully TIF District Update
Cully TIF District proposal moves forward!
On Tuesday September 14, the Prosper Portland Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to support a community-driven proposal for a new tax increment financing (TIF) district in the Cully neighborhood. This action officially recommends the proposal to Portland City Council, which will consider its final adoption in November.
If approved by City Council, the Cully TIF District could generate as much as $350 million over the course of 20-30 years to pay for affordable housing and economic development projects that prevent displacement and benefit people of color and low-income people.
In collaboration with staff from Prosper Portland and Portland Housing Bureau, the development of the Cully TIF District proposal was led by the Exploration Leadership Committee (ELC), a coalition that includes individual community leaders and seven Cully-based non-profit organizations: Cully Association of Neighbors (CAN), Cully Boulevard Alliance, Habitat for Humanity Portland Region, Hacienda CDC, Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA), Our 42nd Avenue, and Verde.
The proposal for a Cully TIF District is based on the input gathered from community members over the past two years. The ELC held 48 community meetings and focus groups, with a total of 500 participants, and received survey responses from 389 community members who identify as Black, Indigenous, people of color, renters, mobile home residents, and/or low-income. These community voices, goals and priorities guided the ELC to craft a TIF District Plan, and an innovative community-guided governance structure, that will be considered for adoption by City Council over the coming months.
What is in the TIF Plan?
If approved, 45% of the investments will go towards affordable housing. This would include: new affordable rentals; permanently affordable homeownership; home repair; mobile home parks; and conversion of market rate housing to affordable housing.
Map of the proposed Cully TIF District boundary area.
The remaining 55% would go towards thing like: supporting existing businesses; affordable commercial space; job opportunities for Cully residents; access to fresh and affordable food, healthcare, childcare, and other new businesses; property acquisition, development, and renovations to support businesses and keep land affordable; art, culture, and signage to help Cully community members feel a sense of belonging; and recreation facilities.
The TIF Plan is the full menu of everything that can legally be paid for with TIF money, and contains guidelines for how to select and prioritize investments over the 20-30 year life of the district. Everything in the plan was shaped by input gathered from the community engagement process. Decisions and recommendations about implementation will be made according to the Governance Charter, informed by the Vision, Values, and Goals of the TIF Plan, and will follow the implementation guidelines established in the TIF Plan. Learn more here.
How does Governance work?
Once adopted, the Governance Charter would create a 13-member Community Leadership Committee to work with Prosper Portland and Portland Housing Bureau to make recommendations for how to implement the Cully TIF Plan. Members of the Community Leadership Committee should represent the interests and needs of Cully community members most vulnerable to displacement. Committee members will have to live, work, worship, have children enrolled in school, or have been displaced from within the Cully TIF District boundaries.
There will be lots of training and support for the Committee from the City and dedicated staff. Ongoing community engagement throughout the lifetime of the District is an important part of making sure investments are benefiting the community, in line with the adopted TIF Plan.
The adoption process:
Before it can go into effect, the Cully TIF District must be approved this fall through the adoption process outlined here. All meeting dates are tentative. You can attend any or all of the public meetings, either in person or online. If you do attend a meeting, you can sign up to give public testimony to share what you think of a Cully TIF District.
1) The Prosper Portland Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to recommend the TIF District Plan on September 14. This allows the proposal to move forward in the process toward final adoption by the City Council.
- Wednesday, September 14th, 3:00-5:00 pm
2) City Council report: This is an informational meeting for City Council to learn more about the project.
- September 28, 2022 at 2:45 pm
3) Planning and Sustainability Commission voted unanimously on September 27 to recommend the Cully TIF Proposal to City Council.
4) City Council hearing and vote: City Council makes the final decision on whether or not to approve the new Cully TIF District. If adopted, the new district would go into existence on July 1, 2023.
- Hearing: Wednesday, November 9th, 2:00-3:00 pm
- Approval Vote: Wednesday, November 16th, 9:45-10:00 am
- Watch video here
- Read Prosper Portland’s news release here
Thanks to the hundreds of community members involved in the community engagement process, and the hard work of ELC members, community leaders, and City staff to get us to this moment!
Meeting Recordings