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Council approves 20-year $1.61M TIF pass-through for Golden Prairie affordable apartments
Summary
Council approved Resolution R2024-75 to create tax-increment district financing for Golden Prairie Apartments LLC, a 48-unit development seeking $1,610,000 in a 20-year affordable-housing TIF; staff said project meets TIF handbook requirements, while a public commenter raised concerns about developer origins.
Mitchell City Council approved Resolution R2024-75 to create Tax Increment Financing for Golden Prairie Apartments LLC, a proposed 48-unit affordable rental development north of the Copper Flats site that requests $1,610,000 as a 20-year grant pass-through.
City staff explained the project meets the city’s TIF handbook and statutory requirements and that the developer’s TIF-eligible expenses shown in the packet were just under $1.7 million. Staff said the project projects sufficient increment to cover the requested amount and that the TIF would be classified as affordable housing only if it continues to meet the state’s affordable-housing criteria.
Developer counsel Skyler Mickelson and Lloyd Company representative Kellen Erpenbach briefed council on the proposal, describing roughly $7 million in total project costs and a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Erpenbach said the project aims to provide workforce housing and the rents would be set to meet the 80% area median income standard required for the affordable classification; counsel clarified rents are set to the affordable-housing classification and are not tied to individual tenants’ incomes.
Public commenter Steve Simpson said he had researched the developer’s incorporation (filed Sept. 5, 2024) and expressed concern that the local benefit would pass to an out-of-area real estate developer, estimating the TIF could cost local taxpayers about $90,000 per year over 20 years if the project were approved. Council and staff responded that the current property valuation and increment projections mean the city would have higher taxable value after improvements versus the land-only assessment if the project is not built.
Council moved, seconded and adopted the resolution after discussion. Staff noted the developer must certify costs annually and that the TIF would not count against the city’s constitutional debt because it is structured as a grant pass-through with no interest. The TIF will terminate at the earlier of 20 years or when the increment repayment is complete.
