Missoula County approves $282,302.73 in TIF funds to reimburse Missoula Rural Fire for ambulance bay at Station 4

Missoula County Commissioners approved use of $282,302.73 in tax increment financing (TIF) funds from the Bonner Mill TIF district to reimburse Missoula Rural Fire District for construction of an ambulance bay at Station 4, county staff said. The board also approved an interlocal agreement that sets the reimbursement terms and requires monthly invoices from the fire district.

County staff told commissioners the Bonner Mill TIF district has about $1.5 million in cash, roughly $500,000 in annual revenue and about $400,000 in annual expenses, and that the district maintains a roughly $300,000 debt-service cash reserve. After reserving debt service, staff said the district would retain approximately $1.3 million in available cash; the requested $282,302.73 reimbursement would leave just over $1 million in the district.

Lana McLarty presented the application and said staff concluded the request meets the county’s mission and the Bonner Mill comprehensive development plan, which identifies emergency services and equipment as an infrastructure deficiency in the area. County staff said adding ambulance capacity at Station 4 would reduce long transport times from central Missoula (staff estimated an additional 15 minutes in some locations) and improve the district’s ability to handle back-to-back calls and events at the Mill, which can draw large seasonal crowds.

Chief Paul Finley of Missoula Rural Fire District told the board the district already owns the ambulance (delivered a few weeks earlier) and expects to buy the vehicle from its general fund (roughly $380,000). He said the ambulance would initially be available for overflow or coordinated response rather than replacing Missoula Emergency Services as the primary transport provider; Missoula Emergency Services would remain primary for transports when available. “We have applied for an AFG grant in order to complement that with all the necessary gear,” Finley said, referring to the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program.

A commissioner moved to approve use of $282,302.73 in Bonner Mill TIF funds to reimburse Missoula Rural Fire District; another commissioner seconded. The board approved the motion by voice vote. The board separately moved to approve the interlocal agreement between Missoula County and Missoula Rural Fire District that memorializes reimbursement procedures; that motion also passed by voice vote.

Under the approved interlocal agreement, Missoula Rural Fire District will administer design, contracting and construction of the ambulance bay and submit monthly invoices for reimbursement; the agreement term is one year. County staff said the arrangement is intended to avoid the fire district needing a loan for construction and to support emergency-services capacity that the county says could help attract value-adding businesses in the Bonner Mill area.