A partially burned American flag flutters in the breeze in front of the remains of a mobile home in Talent, Ore., on Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. The town estimates it would cost $14 million to fund 16 urban renewal projects. A recently voted down tax increment financing district means the town will now have to rely on competitive grant funding.
Brandon Swanson / OPB
Earlier this month, residents of Talent voted down an urban renewal district by a nearly two-thirds margin.
The plan would have used tax increment financing, also known as TIFs, to raise $19 million over 20 years and help rebuild the city after the 2020 Almeda Fire devastated the southwest Oregon town.
The fire decimated 60% of the brick-and-mortar commercial spaces and destroyed 700 homes, including some affordable housing. In total, a third of the town was lost.
“It devastated our Latinx community, our senior community, our more vulnerable populations,” Mayor Darby Ayers-Flood said. “It was a fire with intention.”
Mayor Ayers-Flood says recovery efforts have been robust, with 80% of housing permits being pulled, meaning many homes that were lost have been rebuilt or are in the process of being rebuilt. Where recovery has been the slowest has been in the commercial sector. Less than 20% of businesses that were destroyed have started the recovery process.
The urban renewal district was meant to fund 16 projects that would aid in recovery and revitalization. The city estimates it would cost around $14 million to fund these projects and now will need to focus on obtaining competitive grant funding.
“I think it’ll slow our recovery down quite a bit,” Ayers-Flood said. “Because our funding will be dictated by what grants are available, it’ll sort of reorder the way we recover. We’re gonna have to be very, very focused about how we build things.”
The mayor said that, with the amount of homes being rebuilt, current infrastructure is strained, and that adds even more challenges to the recovery process.
While this isn’t the case now, Ayers-Flood worries that the city may not pursue some grants because they won’t be able to utilize the funds properly.
“You sort of have to lay down the foundation before you start erecting the other pieces,” she said. “If you don’t lay the foundation for this recovery, it can impact you later. We’re seeing that already.”
“Recovery is a layered process.”
Mayor Darby Ayers-Flood joined OPB’s Think Out Loud to discuss the recent special election and recovery efforts in Talent. You can listen to the full conversation here: