Commissioners explain limits on TIF/TED spending and point to Bonner Mill as an example
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Summary
Missoula County commissioners said tax increment financing in county Targeted Economic Development Districts (TEDs) must fund infrastructure that outlasts a single business; they cited the Old Bonner Mill cleanup and described the Missoula Development Authority's advisory role.
On the podcast, Commissioners Josh Slotnick, Dave Strohmeyer and Juanita Vero addressed a common misconception: that private businesses can use tax increment financing (TIF) dollars for any purpose. The commissioners said county TIF, used within Targeted Economic Development Districts (TEDs), is intended to pay for public infrastructure that enables longer-term industrial or workforce development.
"One way I personally like to think about this is that the infrastructure would outlast any one business," Josh Slotnick said, describing the rationale for using TIF in a TED to build sewers, sidewalks or fire-suppression systems that remain if a particular company leaves.
The commissioners contrasted county TEDs with city urban renewal districts (URDs). In city URDs, projects must address blight; county TEDs instead target infrastructure deficiencies to encourage industrial development. Slotnick noted a recent legislative change allowing workforce housing to be included in TED projects.
Speakers used the Old Bonner Mill site as an example where removing a 'repository' of toxic material and adding water and sewer infrastructure required investment beyond what any single developer could afford. Those infrastructure investments, the commissioners said, make a site usable for multiple future businesses rather than supporting only one operator-specific improvement.
Josh Slotnick described the Missoula Development Authority (MDA) as a statutorily created advisory board of subject-matter experts (real estate, engineering and economic development). The MDA takes public testimony, evaluates TED/TIF proposals and sends recommendations to the Board of County Commissioners, which retains final approval authority.
Commissioners acknowledged concerns that districts can sequester incremental tax revenue inside the district (reducing funds shared with schools, fire districts and others). They said the county can adjust the share of revenue retained in a TED and that the state legislature has been adding sideboards to URD/TED practice. They also said typical district lifespans run about 15 years and cautioned against bonding choices that would extend a district's effective life much longer.
