TALENT, Ore. – It’s official, Talent’s Urban Renewal Plan will be on the special election ballot in May.
Along with officially putting the plan on the ballot, the city also made some changes to the plan after some opposition from the Jackson County Commissioners.
The Urban Renewal Plan aims to build more affordable housing, help small businesses, and invest in fire prevention programs.
To get funding for it, the plan proposes reallocating tax revenue from various government districts.
According to Talent’s City Manager, an estimated $87,000 per year would be taken from Jackson County.
Jackson County Fire District Five voiced its opposition to the plan last summer, over concerns about what it would do to its tax dollars.
“It means degraded levels of service in fire, it means degraded levels of service in emergency medical services, because we cannot meet the demand, without those funds,” Fire District Five’s Board Chair Vicky Purslow said in June of 2022.
In the original plan, the city was proposing reallocating $4 million from the fire district over 17 years.
The city now estimates an average of $139,000 per year would be reallocated from the fire district.
That comes out to about $2.36 million dollars over 17 years.
The City of Talent will wait to see how voters feel about the plan in May before making a final decision.
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