Baltimore City Council hastily approved the creation of a special tax-financed district needed to fund an ambitious blight remediation plan from Mayor Brandon Scott hours before the council’s term expired.

The two bills, approved by the council and quickly signed into law by Scott Monday, create a one-of-a-kind Tax Increment Financing — TIF in shorthand — zone that the Scott administration hopes to use to rehabilitate thousands of vacant city properties.

The tax zone allows the city to borrow money against future tax revenues and have in the past been used for high-profile properties along the city’s waterfront. The new zone approved Monday reaches across the city and will assist with the rehab of about 8,000 city-owned properties targeted for revitalization, most in East and West Baltimore.

City officials believe Baltimore is the first city to try such a TIF.

The tax district is a key component of Scott’s $3 billion, 15-year plan to remediate more than 35,000 city-owned properties unveiled by the administration last year. The proposal calls for $150 million to be generated in TIF bonds while another $150 million would be borrowed through a recently revived industrial development authority. The administration anticipates another $900 million coming from the state and millions more from private investors.

The bills approved by the council and signed by the mayor Monday also authorized the borrowing of $65 million in tax increment bonds, the first tranche of funding for the new initiative. Any additional borrowing will require further approval by the council.

Funds generated by the TIF bonds can be used to acquire properties, but will also be available to homeowners and developers. Loans will also be offered to help owners and developers close the appraisal gap on properties — the disparity between the cost of renovating a home and the price a home can fetch on the market.

The council voted 14-1 in favor of both bills with Councilman Eric Costello casting the only votes against the legislation. Costello, who asked numerous questions about the city’s bond rating during a committee hearing on the bills held earlier Monday, cited the potential impact of the legislation on the city’s bond rating as he voted against the proposal.

Costello questioned whether the city’s bond rating could be in jeopardy and said he believed the city to be “underperforming” on many of the metrics considered when bond ratings are awarded. City Finance Director Michael Mocksten said the city is in “safe ranges” on those metrics.

“The city’s debt portfolio with the TIF included is still on a whole consistent with AA,” he said, citing the city’s current bond rating.

Monday’s meeting was the last for Costello and other members of the council including President Nick Mosby and Councilman Robert Stokes, all of whom lost their bids for reelection. Councilman Kristerfer Burnett, who chose not to run again, also completed his term Monday. New members of the council are set to be sworn in Thursday.

With the end of the session bearing down, the council was forced to fast-track any remaining bills Monday or face starting from scratch with the next City Council. The council passed the TIF legislation out of committee Monday afternoon and then took two votes on the bills Monday evening.

Scott signed the legislation and numerous other bills Monday night in a City Hall ceremony.