17.1. Tax-Increment Financing

Aus Pattern Language Wiki

Redevelopment and new development projects like Urban Regeneration and Sprawl Retrofit need sources of revenue.


17 1 01 Tax-Increment Financing.jpg


Problem-statement: How can the benefits of future improvements be transmitted financially to the present day, so that they are economically viable in the period before they generate profit?


❖ ❖ ❖


Discussion:One of the most common mechanisms to accomplish this goal is known as tax increment finance. In essence the government entity with taxing power recognizes that the improvements will generate an increment of increased taxes (through sales tax, income tax, property tax or other means) and this increased revenue can be used to service a bond or pay back a revenue expenditure to the taxpayers.


Care must be taken in tax increment finance projects to avoid commingling the public sector with its interests and priorities, with the private sector with its own distinct interests and priorities. This is best done by focusing expenditures on public improvements, including utilities, transportation infrastructure, and especially, public space improvements.¹


We also have to be careful in how we allocate money raised by such taxes. Spending money optimally has to be done using a “fractal cost distribution” — many small budgets for small projects, a few large budgets for large projects, and a moderate number of budgets for medium projects. When each project competes with the others for funding, it is easy to concentrate on the largest projects, because those need the most money. But this top-heavy mindset too often ignores the intermediate and small-scale projects. A systemic imbalance towards the largest scale will shape the built environment in undesirable ways, and this bias can be overcome by explicitly supporting the more numerous smaller funding parcels.


❖ ❖ ❖


Therefore:

Use tax increment finance to fund a project early in its life, before it has generated revenue. Take care that the risk of financial failure is mitigated with private forms of insurance, rather than public financial risk. Make sure that the funding priorities are not skewed towards the largest projects, and are targeted to a mix of small and medium projects as well.


17 1 02 Tax-Increment Financing.jpg


Use tax increment finance carefully with Land Value Capture, since they can operate at cross purposes. For example, a dependence on property value tax to service debt of tax increment finance can make it difficult to implement land value tax. Therefore, it is better to rely on other streams of revenue than property tax to service tax increment finance. …




¹ For more see e.g. Johnson, C. L., & Kriz, K. A. (Eds.). (2019). Tax Increment Financing and Economic Development: Uses, structures, and impact. Albany NY: SUNY Press.



Mehaffy, M. et al. (2020). TAX-INCREMENT FINANCING (pattern). In A New Pattern Language for Growing Regions. The Dalles: Sustasis Press. Available at https://pattern-language.wiki/.../Tax-Increment_Financing



SECTION I:

PATTERNS OF SCALE


1. REGIONAL PATTERNS

Define the large-scale spatial organization…

1.1. POLYCENTRIC REGION

1.2. BLUE-GREEN NETWORK

1.3. MOBILITY CORRIDOR

1.4. 400M THROUGH STREET NETWORK

2. URBAN PATTERNS

Establish essential urban characteristics…

2.1. WALKABLE MULTI-MOBILITY

2.2. LEVEL CITY

2.3. PUBLIC SPACE SYSTEM

2.4. BIOPHILIC URBANISM

3. STREET PATTERNS

Identify and allocate street types…

3.1. URBAN GREENWAY

3.2. MULTI-WAY BOULEVARD

3.3. AVENUE

3.4. SHARED SPACE LANE

4. NEIGHBORHOOD PATTERNS

Define neighborhood-scale elements…

4.1. STREET AS CENTER

4.2. PEDESTRIAN SANCTUARY

4.3. NEIGHBORHOOD SQUARE

4.4. NEIGHBORHOOD PARK

5. SPECIAL USE PATTERNS

Integrate unique urban elements with care…

5.1. SCHOOL CAMPUS

5.2. MARKET CENTER

5.3. INDUSTRIAL AREA

5.4. HOSPITAL

6. PUBLIC SPACE PATTERNS

Establish the character of the crucial public realm…

6.1. PLACE NETWORK

6.2. WALKABLE STREETSCAPE

6.3. MOVABLE SEATING

6.4. CAPILLARY PATHWAY

7. BLOCK AND PLOT PATTERNS

Lay out the detailed structure of property lines…

7.1. SMALL BLOCKS

7.2. PERIMETER BLOCK

7.3. SMALL PLOTS

7.4. MID-BLOCK ALLEY

8. STREETSCAPE PATTERNS

Configure the street as a welcoming place…

8.1. STREET AS ROOM

8.2. TERMINATED VISTA

8.3. STREET TREES

8.4. STREET FURNISHINGS

9. BUILDING PATTERNS

Lay out appropriate urban buildings…

9.1. PERIMETER BUILDING

9.2. ARCADE BUILDING

9.3. COURTYARD BUILDING

9.4. ROW BUILDING

10. BUILDING EDGE PATTERNS

Create interior and exterior connectivity…

10.1. INDOOR-OUTDOOR AMBIGUITY

10.2. CIRCULATION NETWORK

10.3. LAYERED ZONES

10.4. PASSAGEWAY VIEW



SECTION II:

PATTERNS OF MULTIPLE SCALE


11. GEOMETRIC PATTERNS

Build in coherent geometries at all scales…

11.1. LOCAL SYMMETRY

11.2. SMALL GROUPS OF ELEMENTS

11.3. FRACTAL PATTERN

11.4. FRAMING

12. AFFORDANCE PATTERNS

Build in user capacity to shape the environment…

12.1. HANDLES

12.2. CO-PRODUCTION

12.3. FRIENDLY SURFACES

12.4. MALLEABILITY

13. RETROFIT PATTERNS

Revitalize and improve existing urban assets …

13.1. SLUM UPGRADE

13.2. SPRAWL RETROFIT

13.3. URBAN REGENERATION

13.4. URBAN CONSOLIDATION

14. INFORMAL GROWTH PATTERNS

Accommodate “bottom-up” urban growth…

14.1. LAND TENURE

14.2. UTILITIES FIRST

14.3. DATA WITH THE PEOPLE

14.4. INCREMENTAL SELF-BUILD

15. CONSTRUCTION PATTERNS

Use the building process to enrich the result…

15.1. DESIGN-BUILD ADAPTATION

15.2. HUMAN-SCALE DETAIL

15.3. CONSTRUCTION ORNAMENT

15.4. COMPLEX MATERIALS



SECTION III:

PATTERNS OF PROCESS


16. IMPLEMENTATION TOOL PATTERNS

Use tools to achieve successful results…

16.1. FORM-BASED CODE

16.2. ENTITLEMENT STREAMLINING

16.3. NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING CENTER

16.4. COMMUNITY MOCKUP

17. PROJECT ECONOMICS PATTERNS

Create flows of money that support urban quality…

17.1. TAX-INCREMENT FINANCING

17.2. LAND VALUE CAPTURE

17.3. EXTERNALITY VALUATION

17.4. ECONOMIES OF PLACE AND DIFFERENTIATION

18. PLACE GOVERNANCE PATTERNS

Processes for making and managing places…

18.1. SUBSIDIARITY

18.2. POLYCENTRIC GOVERNANCE

18.3. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PLACE MANAGEMENT

18.4. INFORMAL STEWARDSHIP

19. AFFORDABILITY PATTERNS

Build in affordability for all incomes…

19.1. INTEGRATED AFFORDABILITY

19.2. COMMUNITY LAND TRUST

19.3. MULTI-FAMILY INFILL

19.4. SPECULATION TAX

20. NEW TECHNOLOGY PATTERNS

Integrate new systems without damaging old ones…

20.1. SMART AV SYSTEM

20.2. RESPONSIVE TRANSPORTATION NETWORK COMPANY

20.3. AUGMENTED REALITY DESIGN

20.4. CITIZEN DATA