= Tax increment financing = Tax increment financing, '''TIF''', freezes the taxable value of property in a district at a base year. Taxes on value above that base — the increment — go into a district fund and are spent on improvements within the district rather than distributed to the general taxing jurisdictions. Great Falls has '''five''' districts: * the [[DowntownUrbanRenewalDistrict]] * the West Bank Urban Renewal District * the East Industrial Park District * the Central Montana Agri-Tech Park Industrial District — see [[AgriTechPark]] * the Great Falls International Airport Industrial District = How a request works = An applicant asks the City to spend district funds on a project. Staff bring a resolution, the [[CityCommission]] sets a public hearing, the hearing is held and the Commission votes. The record for 2025-2026 includes requests from the [[PublicWorksDepartment]] itself for infrastructure and signage, from the Downtown Development Partnership, from Clearwater Federal Credit Union, and from the airport. Not all pass easily. Resolution 10603, allowing the City to use up to an additional $382,690 in Downtown district funds, carried '''3-2''' at [[CityCommission2025-10-07]] with Commissioners McKenney and Wilson dissenting. = The 2025 law change = Senate Bill 3 of the 2025 legislature amended MCA 7-15-4234 and 7-15-4282 to require any municipality using TIF to have a formally appointed adisory committee. Great Falls answered by consolidating all five districts under one body — see [[SuperTifAdvisoryCommittee]]. Districts also issue bonds against the increment; see [[JanickiIndustriesProject]] for the largest recent example — $3,800,000 authorised by Resolution 10628 and $2,845,000 sold under Resolution 10650. The governing plan for a district can also be rewritten. The Downtown district's was, in 2026, by [[Ordinance3286]]. ---- Tax Increment Financing: https://greatfallsmt.gov/1118/Tax-Increment-Financing-TIF Super TIF committee: https://greatfallsmt.gov/1128/Super-Tax-Increment-Financing-TIF-Adviso [[DowntownUrbanRenewalDistrict]] · [[Categories]]