Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tax Increment Financing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Senate Bill 1 updates definition of 'blighted area' used for tax increment financing, bill supporters say
Summary
Senate Bill 1 would modernize and clarify Montana's statutory definition of "blighted area" used to create urban renewal/TIF districts; cities, chambers and development groups testified in support, saying clearer criteria will help local redevelopment decisions.
Senator Greg Hertz told the House Taxation Committee Senate Bill 1 revises the statutory definition of "blighted area" for municipalities exercising urban renewal powers and aims to modernize duplicative or outdated language in current code.
"This bill came out of the revenue interim committee, and what we're trying to do is update the definition of blight," said Senator Greg Hertz, sponsor. He told the committee the bill consolidates and clarifies language so local decision-makers can rely on clearer criteria when creating urban renewal and tax increment financing districts.
Proponents representing cities, local governments and business groups said the bill will help local redevelopment efforts. Danny Hess, speaking for the city of Bozeman, said SB 1 "modernizes existing code language and brings into focus those specific conditions, in the built environment, that are needed to serve current uses and spur new development." Jennifer Olson, government affairs director for the Montana League of Cities and Towns, said the League supports tightening the definition because "the use of tax increment or TIF is directly connected to the identification of blight."
Other supporters included the Hospitality and Development Association of Montana, the Montana Chamber of Commerce, the Montana Infrastructure Coalition, the Montana Economic Developers Association and the Billings Chamber of Commerce; witnesses described TIF as a tool to fund infrastructure and encourage private redevelopment and said the statutory language being updated had not been substantially revised for decades.
Representative Durham asked about the bill's statement that the legislature "finds and declares blighted areas exist within municipalities"; Senator Hertz said that language is a policy statement intended to clarify the purpose of tax increment financing — to target blighted areas rather than non-blighted locations.
Supporters asked the committee for a do-pass recommendation; no opponents presented testimony at the hearing.
