In 1993, when the city introduced "tax increment financing" in the Brady District, officials described it as the spark that would ignite downtown revitalization.
And now, 18 years later, redevelopment is raging through the Brady District, where more than $80 million in construction is either under way or planned for the near future.
Of course, downtown Tulsa has seen a few other sparks, too - most spectacularly the BOK Center and ONEOK Field.
Should Vision 2025 and the new Drillers stadium take credit for the Brady District's recent success? Or did the TIF really work after all?
"It's a short question," said Tulsa city planner Dennis Whitaker, "but a long answer."
Private investment feeds off itself, with one successful development encouraging the next, until it builds into a wave of revitalization.
The revitalization, in turn, will pour tax receipts into the TIF that will help fund more improvements.
"The chicken-and-egg question never seems to get resolved," Whitaker said. "Private investment is being drawn by the buzz and the energy in that part of downtown.
"And the TIF was part of creating and sustaining that buzz."
The first such district in Tulsa, the Brady TIF was originally set to expire in 2008. But the city extended it to 2018 because it wasn't generating as much revenue as expected.
"It has taken this long to accumulate a useful amount of money," said Tom Wallace, a property owner in the Brady District.
TIFs are designed to be revenue-neutral. The city continues to collect the same amount of sales tax from the area, and the school district reaps the same property taxes.
The TIF siphons off any increase in tax revenues, setting aside the additional funds for use within the district itself.
It collects money only as fast as the tax receipts grow, so a district needs to see some revitalization before the TIF can begin generating money to help sustain that revitalization.
Until then, a TIF remains mostly symbolic, a token of a city's commitment to revitalization, Wallace said. But sometimes, a token is enough.
"The TIF was certainly a motivator in my decision to invest in downtown," said Wallace, who renovated a derelict warehouse into a corporate headquarters for Wallace Engineering.
"I knew, sooner or later, the neighborhood would get a little help from this pool of money."
To date, the TIF has collected $2.53 million, averaging just over $140,500 a year.
The district has spent $1.1 million, including $687,000 for sidewalk improvements near Cain's Ballroom.
More than $200,000 paid for a series of computer-controlled searchlights that were supposed to attract attention to the area.
"I'm not sure that was the best use of the money," Wallace said. "We need to be more pragmatic."
A few years ago, Brady District business owners began discussing better ways to invest the money. And they recently settled on a new approach.
Starting last month, the TIF now provides matching grants for property owners who agree to upgrade sidewalks and landscaping in front of their businesses.
To receive the money, property owners must foot 60 percent of the bill themselves and agree to follow guidelines that will give the sidewalks a cohesive look from block to block.
"Give us 12 months, and you'll see what a difference the TIF is making," Wallace said. "It will do more in the next 12 months than in the last 12 years."
The Tribune Lofts, the renovated Matthews Warehouse and the forthcoming KOTV studios, along with several smaller businesses, will take advantage of the streetscaping grants, he said.
Without the TIF, "would people continue to invest down here?" Wallace asked.
"I think they would. But would they do it at the same level of quality? I'm almost certain they wouldn't."
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