Astoria leaders are looking at whether to direct more than $800,000 in taxes toward urban renewal projects or back to the local jurisdictions that contribute the revenue.

The City Council, in its role as the Astoria Development Commission, created the Astor West Urban Renewal District in 2002 to fund improvement projects from the Astoria Bridge to Smith Point, namely a conference center.

The conference center idea was eventually scrapped. But the urban renewal district has funded such projects as moving a flagpole near the Maritime Memorial Park, extending the Astoria Riverwalk through the Port of Astoria to Pier 3 and renovating the Red Building near the Astoria Bridge into a commercial complex and meeting space. It also funds grants for business owners wanting to improve their facades.

By the end of the fiscal year in June, the urban renewal district will have collected its maximum indebtedness — what it can spend on projects — of around $9.1 million. It will have around $5.3 million on hand for future projects.

City councilors could unilaterally increase the maximum indebtedness by up to $3 million. They could also terminate tax collections, giving back an estimated $803,000 next fiscal year to local jurisdictions that contribute. Astoria would get an additional $407,000, for example, while Clatsop County would receive $76,455.

Around $246,000 would go back to the State School Fund. Craig Hoppes, the superintendent of the Astoria School District, said he is unsure of how that would ultimately impact the school district’s funding. Clatsop Community College would be in line for nearly $40,000.

Elaine Howard, an urban renewal consultant, told city councilors at a recent work session they needed to decide by the beginning of the next fiscal year in July. The timeline could be even tighter, with local jurisdictions coming up with budgets for next year.

A big question is whether the $5.3 million in the urban renewal district will be enough to finish several identified but somewhat undefined projects. The city is working with the state Department of Transportation to fund a lane reconfiguration and other streetscape improvements along Marine Drive as part of the Uniontown Reborn master plan.

The City Council recently agreed to use urban renewal money on a master plan of the area around the Port’s West Mooring Basin, a prime location for a revitalized commercial district. Improving the Port for the benefit of the county could be a reason to increase indebtedness, City Councilor Roger Rocka said at the work session.

“This is kind of hard to specify, because we don’t have the plan yet from the Port,” Rocka said. “But for me, I think the assumption is that we’re adequately funded to basically complete Uniontown Reborn.”

City Councilor Tom Brownson wondered whether the urban renewal district could go dormant, giving the tax money back until a specific project is identified. Howard said she would have to check with legal counsel. But she cautioned against creating uncertainty by providing a local government with a new funding stream only to cut it off in the future.

“Maybe they use it for something that will need to be (funded) every year,” she said. “And then all of a sudden, you come back in later and say, ‘Hey, guess what? We’re going to start taking money again.’ So it leaves them in a position of not knowing for sure what is happening with that money.”

Howard brought up the idea of increasing maximum indebtedness but only collecting 30% or so of possible revenue, sharing the rest with local jurisdictions while still slowly building up urban renewal funds. City Councilor Joan Herman, Brownson and Rocka supported the idea.

Mayor Bruce Jones recommended a special meeting to hear back from legal counsel about whether the urban renewal district can go dormant until a new project crystallizes. But without that answer, Jones said, he supports terminating further tax collections to help local jurisdictions with pressing needs. City Councilor Tom Hilton also supported termination.

“I just don’t like the idea of increasing maximum indebtedness for undefined future needs,” Jones said.