Economic Infrastructure Finance District

Examples: Food Deserts EIFD

During my internship with the Humboldt County Economic Department, I worked directly under Department Director Scott Adair to investigate the feasibility of creating an Economic Infrastructure Finance District (EIFD) on the Samoa Peninsula. An EIFD is a type of incremental tax financing system that was recently deployed in California to help support underdeveloped communities. Under this system a portion of new property tax revenues over a set base year would be added to a fund that could then be used to support development projects in the area, thus increasing property taxes and the fund. My initial assignment was to identify infrastructure inventory and needs within the district. A portion of this data required sifting through countless government documents, but much of the information was available via the Humboldt GIS interactive website or by manually sorting through the County's detailed GIS data, which is available for download. My next assignment was to Identify the new development projects in the area and input them into a spreadsheet which calculated the property tax revenue to be allocated to the EIFD fund. In order to present this data to the Board of Supervisors, I was tasked with providing the tables with descriptions. Instead, I went ahead and put together a rough draft of the Infrastructure Finance Plan as the more analysis I did the more information I realized I needed to provide, and because it would eventually be needed to officially form the EIFD. Below is a copy of my IFP along with a description of the geospatial analytics that were required.

Infrastructure Financing Plan.pdf

Geospatial Analytics

As I collected my data on potential development projects and current infrastructure status within the district I was also organizing this data in the form of a map. The GIS software allowed for easy geospatial calculations and organization allowing me to:

Designate the boundaries of the district based on the information provided to me by the county
Isolate infrastructure within the district and provide data on the total acreage, miles of road, types of parcels, etc.
Develop project sub-areas based on developments, and isolate data relevant to each sub-area
Isolate parcels in different tax areas to record the different apportionment rates and subsequent projected incremental property tax revenues
Develop detailed and descriptive maps to communicate this information, and which are required in the IFP per government code section 53398.59 – 53398.74 (Legacy project additions: [1] [2] )

The collection and utilization of this data in a geospatial context was done side-by-side an economic analysis. The tables and projections provided in my IFP are a result of the combinations of these two disciplines and the skills they taught me. I feel my numerous analytical and research papers for my economic courses also gave me the ability to communicate this information in a professional and presentable manner.

The findings of my IFP based on the tables, maps, and sub-areas that I provided to the County will be used in the resolution being brought forth to the Board of Supervisors. I will attend this meeting and be formally recognized for my efforts. This has been a great opportunity, but one for which I was only prepared for thanks to my interdisciplinary studies.

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