Mayor Brandon M. Scott has announced that the first series of the City-Wide Affordable Housing Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Bonds closed on
December 23 to a robust market response.
This Affordable Housing TIF is a first-of-its-kind tool that plays a pivotal role in making Reframe Baltimore, Mayor Scott’s 15-year $3 billion vacant properties reduction plan, possible.
In this round of funding, the City offered $28.8 million in funding to prospective investors that would be used to invest in rehabilitating vacant properties and public infrastructure citywide. The City received offers worth $389 million — 13.4 times the amount of funding offered, showing strong demand for redeveloping vacant properties.
“This unprecedented use of TIF bonds is a fundamental tool in our strategy to end the vacants crisis for good over the course of the next 15 years — and the demand for funding that we’re seeing shows that people believe in Baltimore’s Renaissance,” said Mayor Brandon M. Scott. “I’m grateful to all of the folks betting on Baltimore, the team from DHCD and the Department of Finance who helped make this happen, and most importantly: to all of the Baltimoreans who saw the beauty and the promise in their neighborhoods, even when no one else did. This is about building a safer, healthier Baltimore, where all of our residents can find a home that fits their needs.”
Reframe Baltimore, first announced in December 2023 in partnership with BUILD and GBC, has served as the foundation of Baltimore’s effort to tackle the decades-long issue of vacant housing, which now includes unprecedented partnership from Governor Wes Moore and state government. Under the Mayor’s leadership, the City-wide Affordable Housing TIF was adopted by the City Council in December 2024, marking a significant change in how the City funds community redevelopment work.
TIFs, a commonly utilized financing tool, allow cities to borrow money upfront, usually through bonds, and repay that debt using the future increase in property tax revenue from a designated area where new development or renovation occurs. Baltimore has successfully utilized TIFs often throughout the city’s history to fund major development projects. However, Baltimore’s City-wide Affordable Housing TIF is the first time that the same tool has been applied this way to drive reinvestment in neighborhoods affected by vacants.
