The next mayor will help set priorities for growth and revitalization across Baltimore, and voters in next week’s primary election will decide which candidate has the preferred vision for tax policies that can drive development downtown and throughout neighborhoods.
Support from Baltimore’s mayor can determine the fate of projects that rely on public resources such as “tax-increment financing” – or TIFs; and “payment in lieu of taxes” proposals known as PILOTS. Those mechanisms have been at the heart of some of Baltimore’s most contentious projects in recent years.
TIF districts designate a specific area for redevelopment, with the financing of infrastructure and other elements backed by the expected future tax revenue increase. In essence, the city is betting that the long-term benefit will outweigh what it loses in general fund revenues over a set of years.
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