After nearly 40 years, it’s time to dissolve the North Bay Urban Renewal Area and bring that money back home to Coos County.
Back in 1986, the idea sounded pretty good. Create an urban renewal district, use tax increment financing (TIF), and pour the extra property tax growth into fixing up the area. The pitch was that it would fight blight, create jobs, and eventually help everybody.
Well, four decades later, we need to be honest. That district has been quietly siphoning off millions of dollars that should have gone into the County General Fund. Money that could have helped our Sheriff’s Office, kept the jail from being overcrowded, supported the District Attorney, or even lowered the tax burden on families and businesses has been locked away instead.
Right now, we’re dealing with a jail that’s too small, too many emergency releases, and tight budgets for basic public safety. Meanwhile, the North Bay Urban Renewal Area keeps taking its cut of the tax growth. That’s just not working for most people in Coos County anymore.
Dissolving the district doesn’t mean we stop caring about economic development. It just means the natural growth in property taxes goes back into the County’s main budget where it belongs. We can still support good projects through grants, partnerships, and regular county funding — without permanently diverting tax dollars away from core services like keeping our communities safe.
Some people will say we still need urban renewal. But after 40 years in one of the biggest districts around here, it’s fair to ask: How much longer? We’ve got better, more accountable ways to grow our local economy now.
Coos County has about 64,000 of us living here. We deserve a government that puts our tax dollars to work on the things that matter most — starting with public safety. It’s time to dissolve the North Bay Urban Renewal Area and bring that money back where it can actually help all of us.