The Real Story- A Column
Editor’s Note: Following our initial reporting on municipal infrastructure messaging (May 9-10), the City of Hillsboro Communications Manager provided an official, itemized breakdown from the Finance Department on May 14th at 5:07 PM regarding the exact funding for the Hidden Creek Community Center and the Hidden Creek Park West inclusive playground. In the interest of absolute accuracy and community transparency, the Herald has completely updated this report to reflect the City’s precise numbers.
The Broad Claim vs. The Actual Receipts
In a recent informational video filmed at the Hidden Creek Community Center, Mayor Beach Pace highlighted the value of local infrastructure, stating that “economic development has been able to provide this city some pretty amazing things like the Hidden Creek Community Center, fire stations, emergency vehicles, and playgrounds… without raising taxes.”
While City Hall often uses the phrase “economic development” as a broad, catch-all term to lump all business growth together, it’s important for taxpayers to look at the specific accounts. Which agreements actually paid for these projects?
The Video Narrative: Connecting the Dots
In his official feedback to the Herald, the City’s communications office argued that Mayor Pace did not explicitly state that data center revenues paid for the Hidden Creek Community Center or the “Oro” playground, noting instead that she credited broad “economic development” revenues.
However, a look at the structure of the video shows why residents and the Herald drew a direct connection.
The Mayor opens the video by stating:
“But today I wanted to talk to you about data centers. There’s been a lot of information put out about data centers… and I also know some of you have some concerns about data centers.”
Without skipping a beat, the video transitions directly from acknowledging data center concerns into her describing how “economic development” has funded local parks, fire trucks, and student scholarships without raising taxes.
The upbeat tone, high energy, and polished production value of the broadcast were clearly designed to reassure anxious residents. By maintaining that enthusiastic, fast-paced momentum while shifting instantly from data center anxieties to premier community amenities, the Mayor’s presentation left no room for programmatic nuance. It was a packaged message that prioritized positive public relations over a granular financial breakdown.
Because the City’s Enterprise Zone property tax exemptions are handled directly by its Economic Development Department, using these terms interchangeably in a video dedicated to the data center debate naturally leads viewers to equate the two. If the public connects data centers with park funding, it is because the administration’s own messaging presented them within the exact same conversation.
Hidden Creek Community Center: The Intel SIP Revenue
According to the official communication sent to the Herald by City Communications Manager Patrick Preston, the construction of Hidden Creek was not funded by data center enterprise agreements. The Finance Department clarified the exact source:
“Construction expenses paid with Full Faith & Credit (FFC) Bonds are being repaid with Strategic Investment Program (SIP) revenues received by the City from the 2014 Intel SIP agreement. The City has used SIP revenues to fund most of its FFC debt including the most recent $100 million FFC bond that was issued to fund the new Police Headquarters, the South Hillsboro Fire Station 9, and the Fairgrounds Athletic Facility.”
The Reality: This is an important distinction for the public record. Hidden Creek and the city’s newest public safety buildings exist because of the landmark manufacturing package negotiated with Intel over a decade ago. They are not being funded by the existing enterprise zone deals, or the 18 pending data center Enterprise Zone property tax exemptions currently sitting on City Hall desks.
The “Oro” Playground: A Shared Community Investment
The City’s financial summary also itemized the funding for the Hidden Creek Park West inclusive playground, home to the “Oro the Friendly Forest Giant” structure.
The City noted the project was:
“Funded with about $11.1 million of System Development Charges which are revenues received from new development/construction. The City was able to leverage these funds from SDCs to obtain a $3 million federal grant. About $500,000 in donations funded the remaining costs. About $3.6 million combined.”
The Reality: These numbers confirm that data center property tax breaks didn’t build Oro. System Development Charges (SDCs) are one-time impact fees paid directly by local residential homebuilders and commercial users when they build in our City. The rest of the balance came from federal tax dollars via competitive grants, and $500,000 in private checks written directly by local families and area non-profits.
Conclusion: Standing by the Message, Thanking the Team
The Herald sincerely thanks City Communications Manager Patrick Preston and the Hillsboro Finance Department staff for stepping up to provide these detailed line-item receipts. This level of clarity is exactly what independent local journalism fights for, and having these specific numbers on the public record benefits every single taxpayer in Washington County.
However, a technical correction from the Finance Department does not change the reality of how public communication functions.
When the Mayor of a city takes a camera person to a beloved local playground, opens a video explicitly to address “data centers,” and transitions directly into praising how “economic development” funded that very park, the message is unmistakable. It was an upbeat pitch designed to show residents that heavy industrial development, including the data center Enterprise Zone agreements, brings direct civic prosperity without raising taxes.
Anyone watching that video would naturally conclude that data centers are a critical piece of that funding engine and that they helped pay for the ground our children play on.
As it turns out, they didn’t. The ledger proves that the true heroes of Hidden Creek and “Oro” are local homebuilders, federal taxpayers, SDC charges, and the charitable neighbors who wrote private checks.
The Herald sincerely thanks Mayor Beach Pace for taking the time to remind the community of the wonderful amenities we enjoy at Hidden Creek. Her presentation provided a valuable opportunity to examine our city’s financial foundations. Hillsboro is a bigger city these days, and the budget under review this week was just under 900 pages. Ultimately, if the City had linked these explicit financial receipts we were sent today directly to the Mayor’s video from the start, it would have allowed residents to interpret the message accurately without confusion.
Moving forward, we will continue to stand up for the people of Hillsboro who, just like this publication, received the municipal broadcast exactly as it was packaged. There is a vast difference between complex internal accounting and a public relations campaign, and our job is to ensure our readers always know the difference.
Bonus Feature: Understanding the Enterprise Zone in Hillsboro- In the spirit of creating understanding at this time the Herald is posting information shared with us by the City Communications Team. The Herald links to teh Cities resource pages on Data Centers and Enterprise Zones regularly in our work.
- The Enterprise Zone is an economic development tool
What is the Enterprise Zone Program?
The Enterprise Zone Program was created by the State of Oregon to encourage recruitment and retention of businesses and jobs across the state.
This program is one of the few incentives the City of Hillsboro has to grow and sustain our local economy.
· It allows a 100% property tax abatement for a 3-to-5-year period for eligible businesses within the designated enterprise zone on new investments like buildings and equipment.
· After the 3-to-5-year period is over, the investment is taxed and provides revenues to local jurisdictions.
· The program also funds many local workforce development and small business support programs.
The amount of private donations that went toward Hidden Creek ($500,000) was roughly equal to the amount of lottery funds dedicated toward it in 2007.
If we’re going to say data centers built that park, everyone playing a machine at Coyote’s right now could make a similar argument.
I will remind everyone that last year’s property tax extensions for Washington County (referred by those Commissioners), on the ballot for Public Safety and Libraries — the required every 5 year renewals — historically which have kept the same rates, were Increased by 40% and 68%. Already happening!! Residents are paying for the shortfall. Naturally the lovely flyers (paid by taxpayers) for these important essential services, were also “carefully prepared”, omitting this detail. It was in the text of the measure for those who read it and did the math — previous rate and new rates were there. Granted it was approved by voters. Emotionally I believe — as it is true, these are important services. But this is One of the few ways we do get to have a voice and Unless we start saying NO we won’t get our leader’s attention.
Both things are true: They’re vital services, and they’re being funded through temporary measures. What made SIP and Gain Share interesting as a story wasn’t the approach to taxation and civic funding, but the fact that a city and county would peg the funding of essential services like roads and schools to tools with a finite lifespan.
It seems incredibly odd for governments to look at consistent expenditures and develop apparatus that funds them only for a decade at a time while touting it—and accompanying abatements—as successful public-private partnership.