If you could change one thing about the city of Bend what would it be?

Up near the top of our list would be making housing more affordable.

The Bend City Council has taken action recently to do just that, supporting property tax incentives for several developments that include affordable housing. Two are in the core area of the city’s downtown. Councilors are scheduled to talk about a similar project this week.

It’s more fine work the councilors and city staff deserve credit for.

This is not developer welfare masquerading under an affordable housing rainbow. Costs make creating affordable housing difficult. Property tax rebates help make these projects happen. The city requires more than 15% of units built are affordable to households making 90% of area median income or less.

One of the places where providing housing incentives can get tricky is where the money comes from for the tax rebates. The city uses tax increment financing.

“As a reminder, tax increment financing does not reduce existing revenue to tax districts like Bend-La Pine Schools and the Deschutes Public Library, and it does not increase taxes to any property owners,” Councilor Gina Franzosa accurately summed up in a city video.

Tax increment financing does come with a tradeoff, though. The way tax increment financing works, is that taxing districts — such as Bend-La Pine Schools, the Deschutes Public Library and the Bend Park & Recreation District — forego any increase in property taxes within the tax increment financing district for a set period. That means, indeed, they do not get a reduction in existing revenue. They do miss out on revenue growth, however, if it did increase while the special taxing district was in place.

The districts do, in theory, get the benefit of the increased value in the district when the TIF ends. And they also, in this case, benefit from creating more affordable housing in Bend.

Tax increment financing is a tool that can help Bend. It does come with a sacrifice to make it happen.