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Belgrade economic development director outlines TIF work, brownfield grants and downtown priorities
Summary
Catherine King, Belgrade’s economic development director, updated the council on early work to implement the city’s urban renewal and TIF program, including brownfield grants, property-owner outreach and initial projects downtown.
Catherine King, the City of Belgrade’s new economic development director, briefed the council on the first months of the department’s work and outlined accomplishments and priorities tied to the city’s tax increment financing (TIF) district.
King said the department — staffed by one person and funded by the city’s urban renewal/TIF district — has launched a web page, hosted monthly public outreach meetings, secured brownfield grants to fund phase 1 and phase 2 environmental site assessments for the Hek and Qua buildings and properties the city expects to acquire via a land exchange, and met one-on-one with 50 TIF-area property owners who together represent about 55% of the district’s land area.
The director said those brownfield grants could cover environmental work valued in excess of $100,000 (potentially approaching $200,000) and that additional tasks ahead include negotiating with BNSF about a dilapidated downtown property, adding downtown parking, pursuing a Federal Railroad Administration quiet zone through downtown, drafting a multi-year economic development strategic plan, and developing council-approved TIF projects.
King told the council she had begun conceptual talks with the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) on a potential downtown project; she characterized those talks as early-stage and conceptual.
Councilors asked whether recently proposed state legislation (referred to in the meeting as SB 1, SB 2 and SB 3) would affect Belgrade’s TIF district. King and other staff warned the council that the bills under consideration — particularly SB 2 as discussed in the meeting — could reduce the city’s ability to capture newly taxable value at TIF sunset, diminishing the long-term revenue benefit TIF districts are designed to secure. “The thing about TIF that is fundamentally misunderstood… is that your taxpayer pays the tax that is due. The only thing that's different in a TIF is where that tax goes,” King said, explaining that SB 2 as described would reduce the city’s opportunity to count newly taxable value after a TIF sunset.
City staff and the city manager urged continued outreach to legislators and constituents and said they are monitoring bill language and working with the League and local lobbyists. King and staff asked for council direction on continuing outreach, TIF project development and follow-up on brownfield and BNSF discussions.
No formal council action was required on the update; the council thanked King and encouraged continued public engagement and next steps.
