The Port of Woodland has unanimously rejected a proposed tax-increment financing (TIF) district following strong public opposition and concerns from local agencies, including Clark-Cowlitz Fire Rescue (CCFR).
The decision came during the port’s April 17 meeting, during which commissioners heard comments from residents and local leaders critical of the financial impact TIFs could have on fire and emergency services.
Tax increment financing, authorized by the state Legislature in 2021, allows local governments and ports to capture the increase in property tax revenue in a designated area for up to 25 years. However, this money would otherwise be distributed to other local taxing agencies, including fire districts, libraries and EMS services. School districts are unaffected by TIFs.
CCFR Chief John Nohr, who has openly opposed TIFs as currently approved by the state legislature, appreciated the outcome.
“A lot of the public were in opposition,” Nohr said. “In the end, the commissioners voted down the resolution to enact it.”
Nohr, who has previously sounded the alarm over TIFs in Ridgefield that could strip tens of millions in funding from CCFR over 25 years, reiterated his core concerns in testimony before the Port of Woodland.
“It’s a shift in the tax burden,” Nohr said. “All that new revenue goes to the TIF. We still have to serve that [area], and that either equals a reduction in service across the board or an increase in taxes to keep the same service level from the fire district.”
He also criticized the law for bypassing the will of voters.
“People voted for a fire levy, voted for a library levy, voted for an EMS levy, and their money now goes somewhere else without their permission, which we feel is unconstitutional,” he said.
Nohr estimated the proposed TIF would have diverted over $9 million from CCFR’s fire levy and another $3 million from its EMS levy.
“I believe that the commissioners at the Port of Woodland were listening to the public,” he added. “They listened to the public today, and I’m glad they did so.”
CCFR Commissioner David Town, who has been vocal in his opposition since early discussions of the TIF began over a year ago, also expressed surprise at the vote.
“It was shocking to me,” Town said. “A week ago, they had a motion to terminate the TIF that died for lack of a second. This morning, all three of them voted to terminate the TIF.”
Town said he felt his concerns, and those of the broader community, were heard.
The port had contracted with Tiberius Solutions to develop the TIF plan, which would have covered over 5,000 acres east of the City of Woodland. If approved, it would have been the third TIF in CCFR’s service area, joining ones already implemented by the City of Ridgefield and the Port of Ridgefield.
Both Nohr and Town stressed that they are not opposed to economic growth but must not come at the expense of emergency services.
“The fire district is not anti-growth,” Nohr said. “What we’re saying is, when growth happens, it brings challenges for us, and we can’t meet the challenges if we don’t have the revenue.”
“The fire district will support and serve any growth,” Town added. “But when it comes at the expense of the fire department, I can’t support that.”
The City of Woodland previously passed a resolution opposing the TIF. Town credited Mayor Todd Dinehart and city council members for attending hearings and recognizing the impact the proposal would have had on public services.
Nohr said he hopes the Legislature will re-examine the TIF law to limit how much revenue can be diverted and protect funding for junior taxing districts like fire departments and libraries.
“There is no free money,” he said. “The money that goes to the TIF has to be coming from somewhere, and it’s coming from revenue that should be going to the junior taxing districts.”
With the Port of Woodland backing away from the plan, Nohr said the outcome was a win for public engagement.
“This is democracy at work,” he said. “The voters became aware of the impacts and they let their voices be heard… and I think the Port of Woodland heard that.”
As part of its long-term planning, CCFR is moving forward with the design phase of its Station 29 expansion in Woodland, located at 250 Scott Avenue. The project, estimated to cost between $3 million and $5 million, is slated to begin construction in late 2025 or early 2026.
The expansion will replace the temporary manufactured housing currently used by crews and provide permanent dormitories, an additional apparatus bay, and expanded operational space. Separately, CCFR is working with the City of Ridgefield to identify a site for a future west-side fire station, supported in part by a $2 million contribution from the city as partial remediation for its approved TIF district. Chief Nohr warned that the financial strain imposed by TIFs could still undermine essential projects like these, as one-time payments fall short of long-term funding needs.
“Even though revenue loss might be concentrated in one area, it impacts the entire system,” he said. “We operate as one district, and every dollar we lose matters for all our stations and the people we serve.”
