Commission reviews its options

Portland Redevelopment Commission has nearly $1.4 million in the bank.

Now it just needs to use it.

The commission met for the first time Friday and heard from city clerk-treasurer Lori Phillips that it has $1,389,203.51 in total funds, with adviser Ed Curtin saying those funds could go toward schools, flood prevention and other initiatives.

“It’s beneficial from an economic standpoint to have a good school corporation,” said Curtin, a redevelopment expert hired in October to help the commission decide how to spend its money.

Jay Schools superintendent Jeremy Gulley called into the meeting to discuss the ambiguity surrounding how tax increment financing (TIF) district funds can be used toward school corporations that overlap with the district.

He referenced the state’s Next Level Teacher Compensation Commission report, which recommended that TIF district governing bodies such as the redevelopment commission put its money toward school corporations if it has “accumulated more funds than necessary to pay for project costs.”

The report continues, “Unfortunately, some TIF districts capture property tax revenue without compelling or well-tailored uses for the funds. This decreases property tax revenue flowing to schools, which shrinks their available finances.”

The report, which is available in full at in.gov/gov/teachercompensation, requests for up to 15% to go toward schools if enough money is available.

“That won’t happen until the (state) legislature acts on that,” Gulley said.

Redevelopment commission member Rusty Inman said money going toward schools is a worthy cause while recognizing the commission hasn’t always been as efficient as it could have been.

“When I first started here, it seemed like we weren’t spending much money,” Inman said. “But now we are.”

Curtin was hired in part to draft a long-term economic development plan that would list for years projects that the commission’s TIF dollars could be spent on either inside of or benefiting the district, which encompasses parts of downtown Portland.

He added that TIF money could go toward projects to address downtown funding since it benefits infrastructure and, ultimately, business and quality of life.

“In this case, protecting your infrastructure makes perfect sense to me,” Curtin said.

Commission member and Portland Main Street Connect president Reda Theurer-Miller raised concerns that the looming threat of flooding keeps some businesses from moving downtown into vacant buildings.

One solution to Portland’s growing number of vacant or dormant buildings, she said, would be for the commission to buy and rehabilitate those buildings and eventually sell them to an interested business, something Curtin said can be done with TIF dollars.

Theurer-Miller also gave an update on Main Street Connect, saying the group is meeting with a representative of the state’s Office of Community and Rural Affairs to discuss the group’s path to being OCRA certified.

Once certified, the group would be eligible for OCRA’s Main Street Revitalization Program grant, which awards up to $600,000 for a city’s downtown revitalization efforts. According to OCRA’s website, a city has to match 20% of any funds provided by the state.

In other business, commission members Joe Johnston, Mike Simons, Dave Teeter, Inman and Theurer-Miller:

•Approved $59,772 for Main Street Connect for additional Christmas lights, plants to go in the recently installed planters and new LED lights for downtown street poles.

•Re-elected Inman as president, Theurer-Miller as vice president and Johnston as secretary.

•Scheduled quarterly meetings for April 23, July 23 and Oct. 22.