More Colorado Cities Resisting Urban Renewal Authority

"Urban renewal in Colorado, a decades-old strategy used by dozens of communities to replace or rejuvenate aging or derelict shopping malls and neighborhoods, has been under fire," reports John Aguilar.

" Earlier this year, Littleton passed a first-of-its-kind ballot measure in the state dramatically curtailing the power of its urban renewal authority. Wheat Ridge voters will decide on a similar measure in November."

Aguilar also cites two examples of cities where the use of eminent domain in moving redevelopment projects forward has ignited controversy. The string of controversies also led the Colorado State Legislature to pass House Bill 1348, which "gives more control to counties, and to school and fire districts, over the allocation of new tax revenues generated by redevelopment."

At the center of the controversy is the tax increment financing that pays off the bonds that fund construction of redevelopment projects in Colorado cities. The article cites a lot more examples of cities grappling with the use of urban renewal authority—and in the process provides a primer on tax increment financing and the politics of redevelopment.