Agenda - 05-18-2010 - 8b - Laserfiche WebLink

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Levengood 6 2008). The district's enterprises have been such a boon to the city that the TIF was retired 10 years before its intended expiration date (Vespereny 2008). While this outcome may seem like a success story, it is instead a cautionary example for places like Orange County. To areas that value "smart growth," the success of tine Chesterfield Valley TIF is anything but desirable. It promoted suburban sprawl through low- density and auto - dependant development; and it subsidized inevitable commercial development at a cost to the inner city (Luce 2003). Mesa del Sol, NM While most suburban greenfield TIFs have financed urban sprawl, a few have supported sustainable development. One example is Mesa del Sol, near Albuquerque, New Mexico. Currently the largest New Urban master - planned community under construction in the U.S., at 20 square -miles Mesa del Sol constitutes the nation's most expansive TIF (LeRoy 8 -9). According to site's developer Forest City Properties, the desert greenfield will eventually house 18 million square feet of office, industrial, and retail space; 37,500 homes; 3,200 acres of parks and open space; and numerous schools. The current recession, however, has stalled the project and led to the postponement of residential development. Before the downturn, however, the site had managed to lure a number of businesses, including solar firms SCHOTT and Advent; two movie studios; a banking firm; and a healthcare provider (New Mexico Business Weekly 2009). While the development as planned might be desirable to Orange County, the case is problematic for a number of reasons. For one, its success was dependant of the continued economic growth of the region, which has stalled in the current recession. Furthermore, even a "sustainable" New Urban development would impose costs on blighted areas in other parts of the city. Finally, because the site is so huge, its impact of overlapping jurisdictions cannot be understated. Realizing that the site has indeed subsidized private development while setting aside a huge tract of land that cannot produce tax revenues for the state, opponents have led a political backlash, calling for the state's TIF legislation to be amended. In a culmination of this fallout, in 2009 TIF - approval for a project similar to Mesa del Sol was denied, despite having been all but guaranteed previously (LeRoy 9). IV. Takeaways for Orange County Because Orange County's jurisdiction contains no redevelopment districts or "blighted" areas, the county could apply TIF only to greenfield sites. The aforementioned case studies have illuminated the caveats of this practice. Nonetheless, a unique combination of both rural and suburban characteristics in Orange County affirms TIF as a viable financing mechanism.