Curbing Abuse of Urban Renewal Dollars on Productive Farmlands

Release Date: March 15, 2010
Stephanie Thomas

Contact: Stephanie Thomas Colorado Environmental Coalition 303-405-6710

Contact:

Related Information Bill Tracker 2011 Track bills as they move through the state house and state senate. 2011 January 5, 2011 A Train to Solve It, Part Deux survey for rail solution on I-70. Survey II, Front Range October 13, 2010 Copy of A Train to Solve It, Part Deux (Central Mountains) survey for rail solution on I-70. Survey II, Central Mountain Corridor October 13, 2010 I-70 Congestion and A Train to Solve It survey for rail solution on I-70 October 6, 2010 Clean Air-Clean Jobs rally video and press release for 9/27/2010 rally on 1365 Clean Air-Clean Jobs bill September 27, 2010 Keep FasTracks on Track May 12, 2010

HB 10-1107 passed its first vote in the full state senate today.  The bill will curb widespread abuse of the state's urban renewal law by greatly narrowing a loophole in current law that is being exploited with taxpayer money to convert productive farmlands into shopping centers and subdivisions. HB1107, sponsored by Rep. Randy Fischer (D-Larimer) and Sen. Morgan Carroll (D-Arapahoe), would prevent farmlands from qualifying as blighted lands eligible for taxpayer assistance—unless certain conditions are met.

"We support the use of taxpayer financing to help finance urban renewal projects that are truly urban and in real need of rehabilitation," says Stephanie Thomas, Smart Growth Campaign Coordinator at the Colorado Environmental Coalition. "It's clear that redevelopment of a blighted or contaminated city area is more expensive and providing incentives for that redevelopment is justified, but wasting precious taxpayer dollars on 'redeveloping' farmlands that no rational person would think are blighted lands is unconscionable."

Urban renewal authorities (URAs) were created to incentivize redevelopment of blighted urban areas, like former factory sites needing environmental clean-up prior to being redeveloped. When an area qualifies for taxpayer financing through a URA, that taxpayer financing is used by the developer to help pay for the remediation necessary to get the area ready for redevelopment. This financing is a critical tool for cities revitalizing downtowns or redeveloping brownfields.

"However, a loophole in the current law makes it far too easy for cities and towns to claim that agricultural lands are blighted areas in need of taxpayer funding to help them overcome their dilapidated conditions and be ready for redevelopment," said Sen. Carroll. "This loophole has created for too long a situation where the state has to spend precious general fund dollars to pay back school districts the tax dollars that were taken from them to fuel sprawl on farmlands," she adds.

"Abuses of our urban renewal law are costing Colorado around $50 million a year right now. Left unchecked, these abuses will cost the taxpayers $200 million a year by 2020," contends Mark Neuman-Lee of the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute. "The state's budget is a mess.  Legislators are scrambling to balance the budget by cutting vital services, yet we continue to give developers huge subsidies at taxpayers' expense.  This has to stop if we are to have a balanced and fair budget."

HB10-1107 passed out of the House overwhelmingly on Feb. 8 with 55 Representatives voting for it. The bill will need to pass a second floor vote by the state senate in upcoming days.