Broadwater County’s new TED advisory committee adopts bylaws, hears TIF primer and elects officers

Nicole Brown, Broadwater County’s community development director, opened the inaugural meeting of the county’s Targeted Economic Development (TED) advisory committee and turned the floor over to consultant Courtney Ellis for a primer on how TEDs and tax-increment financing (TIF) operate under Montana law.

Ellis told the committee TEDs are a county- or municipal-created form of tax-increment financing established under state law (Title 7, chapter 15, parts 42 and 43). She said the county must adopt a resolution of necessity, create a comprehensive development plan and show infrastructure deficiencies in the district before TIF can be used. "The Department of Revenue establishes a base year and base taxable value," Ellis said, noting that taxable value is a statutory construct and not the same as market value.

The fiscal context drew specific attention when Broadwater County administrative officer Bill Chiracchio reported the TED’s base taxable value filed with the Department of Revenue for 2019 as $164,172. "That is the base point that was filed with Department of Revenue," Chiracchio said. Ellis added that the base taxable value does not directly equal the dollar amount of annual tax revenue and that meaningful…