Portland moves ahead with 6 new TIF districts [Video]

PORTLAND, Ore. — About a month ago, Portland City Council approved the creation of six new districts throughout the city with the idea of generating new revenue to invest back into those neighborhoods. They’re called “tax increment financing,” or TIF districts, and it’s an idea that has been around in Oregon for some time and has been applied before in Portland.

It works like this: Now that the city has approved the boundaries of the district, the property tax rate is frozen in time. This doesn’t mean that property owners will pay the same rate forever — it’ll largely work the same as before on the property owner side. Instead, anything above this year’s property tax rate, known as the increment, will go into the TIF fund …