A MEASURE ESTABLISHING AN URBAN RENEWAL AGENCY IN TROUTDALE
QUESTION: Shall an urban renewal agency be established in the City of Troutdale?
SUMMARY: This referred measure subjects Ordinance 708, adopted August 14, 2001, to an election. Ordinance 708 establishes the Urban Renewal Agency of Troutdale. The Troutdale City Council will exercise the Agency powers. If an Agency is established, Troutdale may obtain revenue to acquire property and construct infrastructure which is necessary to revitalize areas where blight exists. Blight is broadly defined to include areas with inadequate open space, streets, rights-of-way, or which are not utilized.
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
The Troutdale City Council adopted Ordinance 708, establishing the Urban Renewal Agency of Troutdale and appointing the City Council as the Agency’s governing body. This Measure refers Ordinance 708 to a vote.
If this Measure is approved, the Urban Renewal Agency of Troutdale would be established and the Troutdale City Council would serve as the Agency's governing body. If the Agency is established, the Agency would not have additional taxing authority; it does not levy new taxes. Rather, the Agency would receive the incremental increase in property taxes that are generated as a result of increases in assessed property values (the tax increment) in the Troutdale Town Center Urban Renewal Area. Increases in assessed values are limited to 3% per year. The Agency would utilize an additional finance tool that is only available to urban renewal agencies. The finance tool is tax increment financing. Tax increment financing is used to fund public projects in an urban renewal area. The Agency would not have the authority to acquire property through condemnation.
If the Agency is established, it would oversee the implementation of the Troutdale Town Center Urban Renewal Plan. The Troutdale Town Center Urban Renewal Plan identifies the urban renewal area and the projects that would be implemented within that area. The Troutdale Town Center Urban Renewal Area is comprised of the area in downtown Troutdale that is generally referred to as the Town Center. Properties within the Town Center that are zoned single-family residential are not included in the Urban Renewal Plan Area. The public projects in the Urban Renewal Plan include streets, sanitary sewer, water and storm drainage improvements, parks and pedestrian ways, parking, city hall, land acquisition and rehabilitation loans. The Agency would use tax increment revenue to construct these public projects if this Measure is approved.
If this Measure is not approved, the Urban Renewal Agency, governed by the Troutdale City Council, would not be established as proposed in Ordinance 708.
Submitted by:
Debbie Stickney, City Recorder
Measure No. 26-27
ARGUMENT IN FAVOR
WHAT TROUTDALE'S URBAN RENEWAL PROGRAM WILL DO FOR TROUTDALE:
It will fund a riverfront park along the Sandy River
It will fund new access points and recreational facilities along the Sandy River.
It pays for pedestrian trails along the Sandy River and Beaver Creek and a pedestrian connection between downtown and the Sandy River.
It pays for street construction and improvements on the County Farm property and the old sewer plant site.
It will help pay for additional, needed parking downtown.
IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT URBAN RENEWAL IN TROUTDALE:
- Troutdale's urban renewal program will direct more of the property taxes we pay to benefit Troutdale -It does not increase taxes
- Troutdale's urban renewal agency will not have the power to condemn or "take" private property against the owner's wishes
- Troutdale's urban renewal program will fund the construction of parks, streets, and other facilities -There is no plan to acquire or build housing of any kind<
- Troutdale's urban renewal agency will be accountable to the people of Troutdale because it will be run by the elected citizens who serve as the mayor and city councilors - It will not be run by unelected people with private agendas
Paul Thalhofer
David Ripma
Doug Daoust
Pat Smith
Jim Kight
Bruce Thompson
Paul Rabe
VOTE "YES" ON MEASURE 26-27
(This information furnished by Citizens for Troutdale)
The printing of this argument does not constitute an endorsement by Multnomah County, nor does the county warrant the accuracy or truth of any statements made in the argument.
Measure No. 26-27
ARGUMENT IN OPPOSITION
AMERICANS FOR HONEST GOVERNMENT advise citizens to VOTE NO on establishing an "Urban Renewal Agency" - Ordinance 708.
Ask yourself, why is it that your city council, and Troutdale Mayor Paul A. Thalhofer want immunity under 708? Vote No - or they will grant themselves incredible power!
Ordinance 708 states: "all of the rights, powers, duties, privileges and immunities granted to and vested in an urban renewal agency shall be exercised by and vested in the City Council itself, provided, however, that any act of the City Council acting as the urban renewal agency shall be and shall be considered the act of the urban renewal agency only and not of the City Council."
Section 20 of The Oregon Constitution states: No law shall be passed granting to any citizen or class of citizens privileges, or immunities, which, upon the same terms, shall not equally belong to all citizens.
Companion Ordinance 710 gives the agency such power for 25 years and allows them to increase and re-allocate taxes to spend millions of dollars on a new city hall.
The proponents advertise it as an "incremental tax financing instrument". It does not matter what they call it, and how they package it, because a TAX GRAB IS A TAX GRAB.
In charge of urban renewal in Troutdale would be Paul Albert Thalhofer with a like-minded council.
Thalhofer's background check: "IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF OREGON (4/21/67) complaints against Paul Thalhofer include: Repeated and long-standing issuance and delivery of personal and professional NSF checks; Repeated and long-standing personal and professional bank overdrafts; Mishandling, commingling, misappropriation and conversion of clients' and trust funds; Evasion, misrepresentation and failure to disclose to grievance committee."
"Thalhofer's conduct...justified disbarment on a permanent basis." (Oregon State Bar 3/13/78) And, there is more!
Why trust the agency with virtually unlimited powers, privileges and immunity with Thalhofer in charge of the public purse and your property rights?
VOTE NO!
(This information furnished by Americans For Honest Government)
The printing of this argument does not constitute an endorsement by Multnomah County, nor does the county warrant the accuracy or truth of any statements made in the argument.
Measure No. 26-27
ARGUMENT IN OPPOSITION
The "Urban Renewal Agency of Troutdale" (Ordinance 708), and it's companion "Troutdale Town Center Urban Renewal Plan" (Ordinance 710), adopted by the City Council, violate the principles, the intent, and the spirit, of the U.S. Constitution, The Bill of Rights, and the Oregon Constitution.
A portion of AMENDMENT XIV (U.S. Constitution):
Section 1.
"No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States, nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;..."
A portion of ARTICLE I - BILL OF RIGHTS (Oregon Constitution):
Section 18. Private property or services taken for public use.
"Private property shall not be taken for public use, nor the particular services of any man be demanded, without just compensation;"... "provided, that the use of all roads, ways and waterways necessary to promote the transportation of the raw products of mine or farm or forest or water for beneficial use or drainage is necessary to the development and welfare of the state and is declared a public use."
The City Council has given itself draconian powers, to strip hard working citizens/business people, of their property, possibly their very livelihoods.
The Troutdale City Council HAS quietly committed its constituents to a 25 year (projected) $ 16 million dollar plan (and we all know government projections tend to be subject to cost "overruns"). Part of the Troutdale Urban Renewal Plan allocates approximately 4 million dollars for sighting and construction of a new City Hall. Does the City Of Troutdale really believe that the City Council (acting as a "self ordained" Urban Renewal Agency), should have "carte blanche" powers, to allocate ONE QUARTER of the proposed 25 year budget for this, WITHOUT a majority vote of the citizens being expected to finance it?
As a concerned Troutdale citizen, I urge you to VOTE NO on "establishing an urban renewal agency in Troutdale" (Ordinance 708).
(This information furnished by Scott Northcote)
The printing of this argument does not constitute an endorsement by Multnomah County, nor does the county warrant the accuracy or truth of any statements made in the argument.
Measure No. 26-27
ARGUMENT IN OPPOSITION
We urge you to vote "NO" on this ballot measure.
The proposed "urban renewal" program provides a way to increase housing density in the city, which means more rowhouses and apartments. More density will increase traffic congestion, crowding and overburden urban services.
The proposed program is a mis-use of the urban renewal concept. It is supposed to be used to improve truly "blighted" areas, such as slums. But this program includes many areas that are already well developed or already "renewed" such as McMenamin's Edgefield Complex.
The power to acquire private property through the use of eminent domain (condemnation) and sell it to others is a basic element of urban renewal projects. While the city apparently excluded this power from the ordinance to reduce opposition, it is likely it will be included later once the program gets under way.
There is also the danger that taxpayers' dollars will be mis-used under urban renewal programs. There is little accountability or oversight.
We are concerned that many urban residents and businesses have been hurt by similar urban renewal projects in other cities, and want to warn residents of Troutdale they could also be hurt.
We are a non-profit, state-wide organization working for property rights protection, and fair and balanced land use regulations.
Your "No" vote will stop this urban renewal project.
(This information furnished by Oregonians In Action)
The printing of this argument does not constitute an endorsement by Multnomah County, nor does the county warrant the accuracy or truth of any statements made in the argument.
Measure No. 26-27
ARGUMENT IN OPPOSITION
URBAN RENEWAL IS A TAX INCREASE, AND MORE
Although I live in Gresham, I think it makes sense for Troutdale voters to ask themselves this question, "Should we give the mayor and our city councilors broad new powers to choose winners and losers in the economics of the city?" If the answer is NO, then Vote No on Measure 26-27.
An Oregonian reporter recently referred to me as a "long time opponent of urban renewal". That's true, but only in the context of how it's practiced in Oregon, a system in which governments divert a significant amount of property tax dollars away from schools and basic government services into, well, whatever they feel like.
Don't be mislead by the city council's incorrect Explanatory Statement in this pamphlet, the Constitution not only authorizes urban renewal agencies to levy new taxes, but also authorizes them to condemn private property and to transfer it to other private individuals!
The agency which the Troutdale City Council proposes in Ordinance 708, is simply a mini-version of the Portland Development Commission. In short, a system for government insiders to use tax money and condemnation power to favor anointed commercial interests over private property owners, and others.
Don't risk creating a permanent slush fund for the well-connected. Once urban renewal districts are created, they're essentially never-ending, with no way for the voters to undo them (one Portland urban renewal district is still absorbing taxes 30 years after it was established).
Until you amend your city charter to require a vote on the creation of any Urban Renewal Agency or urban renewal plan as we have in our Gresham charter, don't give the Troutdale City Council this broad, new, irreversible use of tax dollars for private purposes.
Vote No on Measure 26-27
(This information furnished by Don McIntire/The Executive Club)
The printing of this argument does not constitute an endorsement by Multnomah County, nor does the county warrant the accuracy or truth of any statements made in the argument.
DROP SITE LOCATIONS
MULTNOMAH COUNTY ELECTIONS
1040 SE MORRISON ST
PORTLAND
Office Hours: 8 am to 5 pm, Monday - Friday
Office Hours Election Day: 7 am - 8 pm
(A mail slot in the door is available after hours and weekends)
FAIRVIEW-COLUMBIA LIBRARY
1520 NE VILLAGE ST
FAIRVIEW
Drop Site Hours:
Sun 1 pm - 5 pm
Tues - Thurs 10 am - 9 pm
Fri & Sat 10 am - 6 pm
Monday, March 11th 10 am - 6 pm
Tuesday, March 12th 10 am - 8 pm
YOUR VOTED BALLOT MUST BE RECEIVED AT THE DROP SITE OR ELECTION OFFICE BY 8:00 PM, MARCH 12 TH TO BE COUNTED. (POSTMARK DOES NOT COUNT)