City Council approval or rejection of the proposed Talent Urban Renewal District scheme is set for August 17th. Please express your concerns at the Tues. Aug. 2nd 6pm urban renewal meeting.  Please go to https://www.talenturbanrenewal.com/agenda-minutes. Submit speaker request to City Recorder (publictestimony@cityoftalent.org) by 5:00 pm Aug 2nd

Please speak up at this Wednesday’s Talent City Council meeting. Submit speaker request to City Recorder (publictestimony@cityoftalent.org) by 5:00 pm on Wednesday July 20th. More meeting info is at this link: https://www.cityoftalent.org/Agendas.asp?AMID=1179

Over the next 30 years, this scheme redirects many of your tax dollars away from our Fire District which is needed to protect the community.  

District 5 may need to seek a levy to support operations if the urban renewal district is created, said Fire Chief Hanley and fire district board Chair Vicki Purslow.
(Mail Tribune quote)

In a June 23rd letter to the Talent City Council, our Fire District 5 wrote:

“Do not defund fire and emergency response service in the amount of $16,796,290. Disasters disproportionately impact vulnerable and historically marginalized populations. Everyone deserves access to critical life safety services & resources. The city of Talent and surrounding areas remain at high threat from urban firestorm. TURA’s primary responsibility for disaster preparedness and wildfire resiliency is not to increase the risk but, to ensure essential firefighting capabilities and services are not irreparably harmed.”

“The fire district has no confidence that TURA’s plan can or will directly address these identified risk or maintain JCFD’s continued ability to adapt to the adverse effects of growth in our region and the rapidly evolving drought conditions that have significantly impacted our service area. The TURA Tax Increment Financing scheme takes tax funding, mandated by voters for direct fire and emergency response, away from the residents and businesses that have already paid for those essential functions and provides no derived fire and emergency response benefit in return. TURA and the city of Talent have provided no assurances that the communities and citizens we serve will have adequately vital emergency services if an urban renewal plan is adopted.”

The City of Talent suffered a major natural disaster just a couple of years ago and the people sitting on the city council want to take money away from emergency services?! How does that make any sense???

The proposed plan also takes many of your tax dollars away from other taxing districts that support our libraries, RVTD, 4H Extension, Rogue Community College and Jackson County services. The scheme also takes millions out of Talent’s yearly budgets which will impact Talent residents.

The Urban Renewal scheme proponents are attempting to rush the plan’s approval in order to leverage off the Almeda Fire disaster. If approved in August, all increases in property tax for Talent addresses that fall within the urban renewal district will be lost to fund the Urban Renewal scheme. The plan has been rigged to include most fire destroyed properties because the property taxes for these addresses have been dramatically lowered because the homes were destroyed.  For example, the yearly property taxes at 609 Talent Ave, have been reduced to just $1,388. After the new home is built at this address the taxes may wise to over $5,000. The approximate $4,000 tax increase plus annual increases will completely go to the urban renewal agency every year over the next 30 years. The same thing will happen to most of the hundreds of properties in the Talent Urban Renewal District. Rushing the plan’s approval in order to leverage off the Almeda Fire disaster is underhanded and must be stopped.   

Now for the kicker. The Urban Renewal board proposing this agenda is comprised completely of city council members that will be voting on it!

What can you do?

– Share this information with your friends, family, and neighbors in Talent, Phoenix, and Ashland. Most people have no idea this is even happening.

– Attend the July 20 city council meeting and Talent Urban Renewal Meetings and make your voice heard, you can attend either by phone or zoom but you’ll need a computer and microphone to speak, and you must put in a request to do so in advance. You can also submit a written statement.

Email and call the following people and departments and let them know how you feel about this misguided agenda.

Serious concerns have been raised regarding the accuracy of financial impact projections being released to the public by the urban renewal board of directors (which is the Talent City Council). There is a call for an independent audit of the projections which appear to minimize the financial impacts of their proposal.