Tax-increment district, parking zone on agenda

A proposed tax increment Financing district and the second reading of an extension to a parking zone near Flathead High School are the main agenda items for tonight’s Kalispell City Council meeting.

The council unanimously approved its Downtown Kalispell Urban Renewal Plan at the Dec. 3 meeting. Creation of the tax-increment district to fund infrastructure improvements is the next step. The rehabilitation plans include a redesign of Main Street to lower traffic impacts, widened sidewalks, the building of a parking garage and repair of the city’s water main.

A tax-increment district is not a property tax, but uses the additional taxes from the district properties as they increase in value.

The Westside Neighborhood Parking Management extension aims to add the 700 block of Sixth Avenue West to the zone, created in 2015 to mitigate parking issues near Flathead High School.

The Planning Department had proposed that the extension be put into place at the beginning of the 2019-20 school year. But at the Dec. 3 council meeting, homeowner Matthew Brake requested the ordinance take effect “in an expeditious manner.” In response to Brake’s comments, the ordinance was amended to be enacted 30 days after passage.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in City Hall council chambers, 201 First Ave. E.