Board approves inclusion of one-time TED and housing legal requests in final budget

Board members reviewed several one-time budget requests funded from targeted economic development districts (TEDs) and the Housing Innovation Fund and agreed to include them in the county's final budget.

Staff explained that the requested expenses would be paid from restricted TED property-tax funds and the Housing Innovation Fund, not from the county's general fund. The requests included $15,917 to HDR for a sewer analysis for the Y2 TED to evaluate technical aspects of a project; a set of $2,000 transfers from several TEDs (Bonner 2 Mill Site TED, Bonner Westlog Side TED, Y TED, and Y2 TED) to cover Dorsey & Whitney legal services for bond and debt issuance work (total of $10,000); and a separate $20,000 from the Housing Innovation Fund for Dorsey & Whitney to explore legal frameworks related to down-payment assistance and permanent affordability.

Staff said the TEDs have cash available to fund the requests and that the housing legal analysis is intended to determine whether the county can structure programs for down-payment assistance and long-term affordability. A participant noted that prior questions about local-government participation had been answered and that the legal work would explore private-sector options and frameworks.

One board member said, "This is what I've been working on, and we can do that." After a brief discussion and a second, the transcript shows staff concluding, "With that, we will include those in the final budget." The record does not include a roll-call vote tally in the transcript excerpt.

The transcript also includes a brief mention of using TIF (tax increment financing) as a possible tool for workforce housing, but no formal action on TIF appeared in the excerpt.

Next steps: staff will include the listed requests in the final budget documents and proceed with contracting or scoping work with HDR and Dorsey & Whitney as appropriate.