Kalispell City Council eyes tax increment funding for workforce housing projects
One of several buildings under construction at Junegrass Place on North Meridian Road in Kalispell on Tuesday, April 11. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Kalispell City Council on Monday will consider making workforce housing projects eligible for tax increment financing.
Council meets at 7 p.m., Sept. 9 in City Hall, 201 First Ave. E.
To make workforce housing developments eligible for the funding, Council must amend the Downtown and West Side/Core Area Urban Renewal plans, according to city documents. Workforce housing is described as housing for individuals and families with a household income of 80% to 120% of the area median income.
The discussion comes as localities across Montana — as well as the state government — grapple with a housing crunch.
Kalispell has experienced significant growth in recent years, being named the country’s fastest-growing micropolitan area in 2022. The median household income in Flathead County that year was around $66,000, according to data from the Northwest Montana Association of Realtors.
In the decade leading up to the 2020s, the U.S. Decennial Census data revealed a 6.2% increase in housing in Flathead County while the population grew by 14.8%.
The county’s ratio of monthly payment to median household income in 2024 was around 70%, one of the highest in Montana, according to data from the University of Montana's Bureau of Business and Economic Research.
The Republican-controlled Legislature in 2023 passed a quartet of bills seeking to boost housing construction across the state. Residents opposed to the changes have turned to litigation, claiming the measures would harm the quality of existing neighborhoods.
The Montana Supreme Court recently overturned a lower court order temporarily blocking two of the four land use laws from taking effect.
Council considered the workforce housing amendments to their urban renewal plans in 2022 but decided to table the discussion because there were no pending projects at the time, according to a report by Kalispell Development Services Director Jarod Nygren.
The municipality uses what is known as a TIF Finance District within both plans “as part of the overall strategy to meet its needs of promoting economic development, improving area employment opportunities, improving area housing opportunities and expanding the community’s tax base,” according to city documents.
Council adopted the Core Area Plan in 2012 and the Downtown Plan in 2017 as an amendment to its Growth Policy Plan, which aims to guide growth in and around the city through 2035.
“Identified workforce housing projects created within both plan boundaries would promote area housing and employment opportunities,” read the 2022 memo.
Reporter Jack Underhill can be reached at junderhill@dailyinterlake.com and 758-4407.