OKLAHOMA CITY — Last month, the City Council of Oklahoma City voted in a rare unanimous decision to launch a committee to evaluate a proposed new tax increment financing district – or TIF – along the NW Classen corridor.
If approved, it would be OKC’s 16th TIF (tax increment financing) district, joining others that have brought revitalization efforts to city areas like Downtown and NE 23rd Street through a hyper-localized distribution of tax revenue tied to area property taxes.
Proposed Classen Corridor TIF
The proposed Classen Corridor TIF would span NW Classen Boulevard between NW 36th Street and NW 5th, spreading to the south to include much of Midtown to the east and NW 10th Street west to Pennsylvania Ave.
That area includes numerous notable locations such as the Asian District, the iconic yet long-dormant Gold Dome building, the OKCPS administration building, and some long-in-development business and residential projects that have stalled in recent years.
The City-Council-approved evaluation committee for the proposed new TIF and its potential effects includes representatives from OKCPS, Metro Tech, the OKC Health Department, the Metropolitan Library System, and Oklahoma County government.
To get direct citizen input on the proposal before moving toward an official City Council vote, Councilors JoBeth Hamon (Ward 6) and James Cooper (Ward 2) will be hosting a public meeting on Tuesday, April 16th at OCU open to any residents and business owners of the community. (See info below.)
“People who live, work, and play in this area should have a voice in shaping its future,” Cooper told Free Press ahead of the meeting.
What is a TIF?
The Tax Increment Financing model uses the increasing property values of quickly developing city areas to help pay for the development itself.
When a city area is primed for development, analysts can determine its current property tax rate and then, with the approval of a new TIF district, allocate any revenue generated above that amount from increasing property tax rates in the area for infrastructure or city projects strictly within that district.
The more that private investment and development raises property taxes in the area, the more that tax revenue gets redistributed back into public schools, city infrastructure, building and renovation assistance, and city programs in the same area.
City officials have touted the TIF model as a consistent success following significant investment and development in Downtown, the Wheeler District, the Oklahoma Waterfront projects, and many others, all funded through TIF districts.
Origin of the ‘Classen Corridor‘ TIF idea
Plans for a new TIF to spur development along that “Classen Corridor” arose from leaders of the Asian District hoping to shore up new meaningful investment in the area.
“A few years ago, the Asian Cultural District Association approached Councilman James Cooper and me about the possibility of using TIF as a tool for development in their district,” Councilwoman Hamon said in a press statement. “In speaking with staff, they recommended overlaying it with a portion of the new NW BRT route to encourage transit-oriented development.”
Connecting the Asian District’s TIF hopes to Midtown not only leverages the city’s recent public transit improvements but also ties the proposed district into an area already seeing major development and investment, thereby all but guaranteeing the desired rise in property taxes to be reinvested into localized city programs.
“I agree with this vision from our Asian District board,” Cooper said, “and, with Embark’s Bus Rapid Transit service now a reality along this historic corridor and a possible streetscape in our next bond on the horizon, I look forward to working with them to make Classen a boulevard for people again.”
Community meeting on April 16
According to Hamon, next week’s open community meeting that she and Cooper will be hosting is meant as a way for area residents to make their own voices heard in the conversation over how the proposed TIF area might be developed or revitalized.
“People who live, work, and play in this area should have a voice in shaping its future.”
Councilman James Cooper, Ward 2
“We’ll hear about how the current map proposal was developed and talk more generally about what TIF can be used for, allow time for attendees to ask questions, and spend time hearing from attendees about ideas for potential public improvements in the area,” she told Free Press.
Though Hamon voted along with all other city counselors to approve the NW Classen TIF evaluation committee, she says that she wants to hear directly from area residents before the proposal goes further.
Residents and business owners of the Asian District have, as she put it, “historically had more barriers in accessing capital.”
“I hope this community meeting is an example and sets a precedent for how we can generate these tools with community input,” Hamon said. “Not just from people who own property or hope to develop property within in the district boundaries, but especially the people that live, work, attend school, and have built up their communities in the area.”
Basics on the public community meeting to discuss the proposed Classen Corridor TIF:
- 6:30 – 8 p.m. on April 16
- Homsey Hall, Room 100, in the Sarkeys Science and Math Building at Oklahoma City University, NW 23 and Kentucky.
- Click here for a campus map.
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
