The Billings City Council has allocated more than $665-thousand dollars to the management of tax increment finance (TIF) districts, and is looking at making that more efficient.
The council discussed the possibilities at a work session on Monday night.
The meeting drew about an hour of public comment.
Watch TIF story here:
TIF money has been allocated to projects such as for infrastructure for the ice arena at Amend Park, affordable housing, and to help businesses.
Deputy Mayor Mike Boyett, who initially brought up the issue, listed four possibilities:
- Do nothing and keep management of the districts as is.
- Hire one person, separate from the city, to manage all three.
- Hire one person, who would be a city employee, to manage all three.
- Reduce the amount of money allocate to the districts
The Yarn Bar has been in business for nine years and in downtown Billings since 2021.
“Those dollars for the sign project was through TIF,” Sue Baker, Yarn Bar co-owner, said about the signs identifying her business.
“They helped us find our space, find a good space,” said Linda Heins, Yarn Bar co-owner. “We ended up with a really supportive landlord.”
Heins and Baker support the Downtown Billings Alliance and the management of the Downtown TIF district.
“It's important to have those neighborhoods, these little neighborhoods, kind of managed by some dedicated people,” Baker said.
“If they're trying to consolidate, I just think that's going to water down the efforts,” Heins said.
A lot of emails went to the city council with comments and concerns.
Some response came after Councilman Scott Aspenlieder sent an email to the council and city staff.
“There's admittedly concern about how much money we spend on management of those three TIF districts across the three of them,” Aspenlieder said.
Aspenlieder said he would consider one manager, but not as a city employee.
“I would not ever support pulling the management of those three districts under the city's umbrella,” Aspenlieder said. “It’s important to have some separation between city planning. Cities are not good at economic development. We're not good at being economic development authorities. We're not built to be economic development agencies in city government. That's not our job."
Currently, the city allocates different amounts totaling $665,885 for the three TIF districts:
- Downtown District - $326,105
- East Billinngs - $179,750
- South Billings Urban Renewal Association (SBURA) - $160,000
Memorandums Of Understanding with all three expire on June 30.
“Have they been successful?” Aspenlieder asked. “Absolutely, they've been successful. But we have to start getting more efficient in the way that we go through this process.”
“No one's looking at less service for businesses in each of the districts,” Councilman Bill Kennedy said. “We're looking to lower the costs administratively.”
According to Boyett, SBURA spend $6,000 a year to rent meeting space.
Aspenlieder and Kennedy said having the TIF district meetings at city hall would save money and allow for better public participation.
“It makes it a little easier for the public to to come to the same place for all three TIF districts,” Aspenlieder said. “Let's consolidate and make this a little easier for the public to participate and observe and be engaged in the process as well.”
“We'll look at that and I think putting them all in one place to have their meetings at city hall for the public is very convenient for the public,” Kennedy said. “That should have been addressed a long time ago.”
The two councilman say TIF districts need to adhere to the same requirements as the council including posting agendas 48 hours in advance of a meeting and posting recordings of open meetings.
“I couldn't tell you 100 percent if those are fully being done that way and being documented and archived that way,” Aspenlieder said about posting recordings. “It's something that we have to make sure is being done properly. Otherwise, we're in violation of state law.”
And a member from each of the TIF districts explained to the city council why the current system should stay in place.
“The vision and strategy that's been developed and implemented by the Downtown Buildings partnership since 1997 is to participate in transformational projects,” said Katy Schreiner, Downtown Billings C.E.O.
“The three urban renewal districts are not the same,” said Heather Doty of the East Billings Urban Renewal District. “They're three different jobs. They have three different urban renewal plans and three different goals.”
“Our major position is you already hold in your hands the tools you need to achieve the objectives that you're saying that you want to achieve,” said Tim Goodridge, South Billings Urban Renewal Association “There's no reason to reorganize everything.”
Still, the council wants to consider other options.
“Are we using tax dollars where we should be?” Kennedy asked.
