23 (01)
Susana Barrios
From:David Martinez <david@streetsforall.org>
Sent:Tuesday, May 12, 2026 11:36 AM
To:Public Comment
Cc:Mayors Office; Carlos A. Leon; Ryan Balius; Natalie Rubalcava; Norma C. Kurtz; Kristen
Maahs; Natalie Meeks
Subject:\[EXTERNAL\] Oppose Item 23
Attachments:OPPOSE Item 23.pdf
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Hello,
Please see attached for our letter opposing Item 23.
Best,
David Martinez
State Policy Manager
Streets For All
(
1
12 May 2026
Anaheim City Council
200 S Anaheim Boulevard
Anaheim, CA 92805
RE: OPPOSE Item 23 - Resolution Opposing CA High-Speed Rail Tax Increment Financing
Dear Mayor Aitken and Members of the City Council,
Streets For All is a transportation and land use advocacy organization that is engaged in work
that promotes sustainable multi-modal transportation solutions, street safety, and smart land
use decision making throughout California. We are committed to crafting policies that allow
communities to benefit everyone.
We respectfully urge you to oppose Item 23, the proposed resolution opposing the California
High-Speed Rail Authority ’s exploration of tax increment financing districts near future station
areas. If Anaheim wants to see high-speed rail reach ARTIC within a realistic timeframe, new
financing mechanisms such as tax increment financing will likely be essential to making that
vision achievable. Without these new financing tools, the delivery of high-speed rail to Anaheim
becomes significantly more difficult and uncertain.
High-speed rail represents a once-in-a-generation investment in California’s transportation
infrastructure, and Anaheim stands to benefit significantly from its delivery. As the future
southern terminus of the system, Anaheim, and particularly the ARTIC station area, would gain
from increased economic activity, stronger regional connectivity, expanded tourism, and new
housing and commercial investment. High-speed rail would better connect Anaheim to major
employment centers across Southern California and the state, while reinforcing the city ’s role as
a major economic and visitor destination.
The resolution suggests that tax increment financing would divert resources away from the City.
However, tax increment financing is designed to capture new value created by public
investment. That is growth that may not otherwise occur without the project itself. In other
words, high-speed rail can help generate the very economic growth that produces additional
local tax revenue over time.
Our recent research found that Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts (EIFDs) could help
accelerate delivery of high-speed rail in Southern California by leveraging future value created
around station areas. This type of value capture can be an important tool to bring projects
online faster while aligning public investment with local economic growth.
Opposing innovative financing mechanisms at this stage risks delaying a project that will deliver
substantial economic and transportation benefits to Anaheim for generations. Rather than
rejecting tax increment financing outright, we encourage the City to engage constructively with
the High-Speed Rail Authority to shape financing tools in ways that protect local priorities while
enabling this critical statewide investment to move forward.
We respectfully ask you to vote No on Item 23 and support efforts to accelerate the delivery of
high-speed rail to Anaheim
Sincerely,
David Martinez
State Policy Manager
Streets For All