Stay On Track
Railyards too important for political derailment
By Jeff Harris
September 2026
Not every important City Hall vote is about politics. Sometimes it’s about whether roads get built, utilities get installed and neighborhoods take shape.
The City Council’s upcoming vote on the Railyards Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District is one such moment.
The Railyards are a generational urban redevelopment opportunity. Thousands of homes, businesses, parks, roads, a hospital and public spaces are coming. But they need one thing before anything else can happen: infrastructure.
That’s why the city created an Enhanced Infrastructure Financing District there.
I helped establish the original Railyards infrastructure financing deal while serving on the City Council. It was a first for Sacramento.
The district isn’t a developer subsidy. It exists because no developer can reasonably finance hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure before a project generates taxes to help pay for it.
The financing district solves the problem by allowing future growth to pay for the infrastructure that makes the growth possible.
Today, the proposed expansion of the Railyards financing district is controversial.
Residents of the Wong Center, a senior housing project, and the A.J. Apartments, a mixed-income development, exercised their legal right to protest the proposed financing district expansion. They halted the process.
Their principal concern was that the Railyards should include more affordable housing. Right or wrong, the law gives those residents the opportunity to be heard.
The more important question is what comes next.
City staff is expected to present a revised Railyards financing district that excludes the Wong Center and A.J. Apartments from the district’s boundaries. The exclusion makes sense—not because it changes who can protest, but because it better aligns with the district’s purpose.
A financing district captures future property taxes created by new developments. Because the Wong Center and A.J. Apartments are long standing, they will contribute little, if any, new tax increments to help finance the infrastructure needed to build out the Railyards.
Excluding them creates a financing district that relies on future properties to generate future revenue. It makes sense.
There are attempts to connect this debate to unrelated labor disputes between Wilton Rancheria and Unite Here Local 49. Those disputes involve litigation over union organizing at Sky River Casino.
No matter what you think about casinos and unions, a labor dispute shouldn’t determine the future of the city’s biggest redevelopment project.
The City Council’s decision hinges on much narrower questions.
Does the revised finance district provide an economically sound way to build the roads, utilities, flood protection, parks and public improvements needed to finish the Railyards?
It does.
Will the district generate enough taxes to reimburse the infrastructure investments over time?
Every indication is yes.
Will the district accelerate housing, jobs, retail and amenities residents have waited decades to see?
The answer is yes.
There’s one irony. The Wong Center and A.J. Apartments win when the Railyards redevelopment moved forward. As additional infrastructure comes online, the residents will benefit from better streets, parks, stores and restaurants.
Investment in the Railyards isn’t contrary to the residents’ interests. It’s essential to completing the neighborhood they call home.
California created infrastructure finance districts to solve one of local government’s biggest problems: paying for infrastructure that precedes economic development. These districts weren’t meant to be proxies for unrelated political or legal disputes.
The City Council should approve the revised Railyards infrastructure financing district this fall.
The city waited decades for the Railyards to thrive. We can’t turn roads, utilities, parks and future retail sites into political casualties.
Jeff Harris represented District 3 on City Council from 2014 to 2022. He can be reached at cadence5371@gmail.com. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram: @insidesacramento.
