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Public commenter urges economic diversification; council flags funding issues for regional development group
Summary
A public commenter (Jim) urged continued economic diversification and reported an Opportunity Zone application for southern Rosebud County; council members followed up saying the regional development corporation's funding is not sustainable and asked for a breakdown of benefits to participating jurisdictions.
During the public-comment period, Jim (S9) presented a SWOT-style overview of local economic-development priorities and activities and asked the city to remain involved in regional efforts.
Jim highlighted ongoing projects including street repairs, broadband, the business-innovation center, and a diversification-strategy update by KLJ. He said the locality had submitted an application for Opportunity Zone designation for a southern Rosebud County census tract and described expected investment prospects. "We submitted an application with the support of the city of Colstrip ... and Rosebud County," he said, and added that scoring was in progress.
Chair (S4) and others followed up, saying the local economic-development corporation (referred to in the discussion by various acronyms) is not sustainable at its current funding level and that Colstrip has budgeted $100,000 for economic development and previously contributed $60,000 (in two payments) to support the organization. The council asked Jim to prepare numbers showing benefits each jurisdiction has received so the city can evaluate future funding shares.
