Columbia Falls plans tax-increment meetings

 The Columbia Falls City Council has scheduled two planning and strategy sessions to focus on the city’s proposal to form an urban renewal and tax-increment financing district.

The first meeting, from 7 to 9 p.m. Monday, Oct. 27, will provide initial training and an orientation session with the City Council, Planning Board and the public.

A second session from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 28, will be a public presentation including interested people, stakeholders and business owners. Lunch will be provided.

Both meetings will be held at Columbia Falls City Hall, 130 Sixth St. W. in Columbia Falls.

The process of preparing an urban renewal plan, determining tax-increment district boundaries and completing the review will take place over the next six months, according to Columbia Falls City Manager Susan Nicosia.

“The process includes multiple public hearings and public input throughout the process,” she said. “The City Council is excited to begin this long-range planning process to encourage urban renewal within the Columbia Falls community and to determine if Columbia Falls would benefit by creating a tax increment financing district.”

Tax-increment financing was created by the Legislature as a way to rehabilitate blighted areas within cities and is a tool cities can use to fund urban renewal projects. Once the tax district boundaries are established, property values are frozen at that level, and any increase in taxes within that district goes into the tax-increment fund and is used for projects to improve the value of property within the district.

Both Kalispell and Whitefish have used tax-increment financing districts through the years for community redevelopment projects.