Commission discusses Wheatland Targeted Economic Development District, TIF balance and advisory committee

County commissioners provided an overview of the Wheatland Targeted Economic Development District (TED), explained the tax-increment financing mechanism used to fund TED infrastructure, and read a proposed resolution to establish a statutorily required advisory committee.

A county official said the Wheatland TED was created by a board resolution on Nov. 18, 2019, and described the district as an economic-development tool “to build infrastructure in underdeveloped or undeveloped areas that are infrastructure deficient.” The official explained that tax-increment financing (TIF) redirects incremental taxable value generated by new development within the TED to pay for infrastructure—roads, water systems and utilities—within the district rather than to the general tax base.

The commissioners said the TED plan (2019) discouraged housing inside the district, because incremental taxes from housing would not flow to local schools under the TED/TIF structure. The county noted that the district contains five businesses at present and that TIF has a balance of about $130,837, meaning reimbursements for developer infrastructure projects will be limited until the TIF grows. The speaker said Murdoch's owns a parcel within the TED. The county also noted that the highway rest stop in the area is managed by MDT, not the county, and that MDT has been addressing soil and water issues there.

The commission then read a resolution titled “Resolution County Montana establishing an advisory committee with respect to the Wheatland Targeted Economic Development District.” The read text references recent change in state law (identified in the reading as SB 3) requiring local governments that adopt TIF to appoint an advisory committee and to include at least one representative from each overlapping incorporated city, town or school district. The proposed committee is five members, with at least one representative from the Three Forks School District; the resolution approves the committee bylaws as an attachment and states the bylaws may be amended by the committee.

No vote on the resolution was recorded in the available transcript; the record shows the commissioners reading the resolution and discussing logistics of outreach and committee membership but does not show a formal motion or tally. Commissioners said they plan to post TED maps and related information online and continue public outreach to reduce misunderstanding about how the TED and its TIF operate.

Because TIF reimbursements depend on new development and taxable growth in the TED, the county noted that reimbursements for infrastructure projects will proceed only as the TIF balance increases and as businesses apply for reimbursement.