ANNUAL SURVEY OF PENNSYLVANIA ADMINISTRATIVE LAW: ZONING, LAND USE, AND PLANNING: TAX INCREMENT FINANCING IN PENNSYLVANIA: THE EFFECT OF MAZUR V. TRINITY AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT ON DETERMINATIONS OF BLIGHT

I. INTRODUCTION Since the advent of American cities, there has been urban blight. Where there were well-kept homes and bustling industry, local governments found slums and empty factories. Not long after today's metropolises left the quaint, small-town look behind, the redevelopment of blighted neighborhoods began. 1 Governments have used many tools to attempt to revitalize cities, including tax incentives and the use of eminent domain. 2 As local governments continued to look for ways to improve cities, statutes were enacted to make the most of redevelopment power. 3 Tax increment financing (TIF) statutes were "introduced in California in 1952" as a new way of revitalizing cities and can be attributed "to the urban redevelopment and slum clearance statutes of the 1930s and 1940s." 4 TIF can be implemented with or without the use of eminent domain. 5 When used with eminent domain, there is an especially strong citizen response. 6 Governmental use of eminent domain to take private property for use by another private entity is a controversial idea in this country, 7 and landowners have not given up property without a fight. 8 But despite opposition to the private use of land taken under TIF statutes and the financial implications for communities who utilize the taken land, TIF statutes seem to be here to stay. 9 The statutes are strengthened by judicial opinions protecting government condemnation determinations, except in the most egregious cases. 10 However, the TIF statute in Pennsylvania evolved in response to the ...