Updated Oct. 21

City staff are proposing the creation of a tax increment advisory committee to comply with a new state law that went into effect Oct. 1.

They’re also proposing that those who already serve on another city board be able to serve on the TIF board since “many qualified professionals with TIF, land use or similar experience or interest would otherwise be ineligible,” under existing city policy.

Commissioners will consider the proposal during their Oct. 21 meeting.

The city cannot consider any new TIF applications until the new review committee is in place, but it can continue to process applications received before the Oct. 1 deadline and issue reimbursements for existing projects.

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Commissioners will first have to establish the committee, then open an application process for interested citizens, then go through the public appointment process at a regular commission meeting. All commission meetings are open to the public.

Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the new law, carried by Sen. Jeremy Trebas, R-Great Falls, on April 3.

The TIF advisory board would serve as the advisory and recommending body for policies and expenditures across all five of the city’s TIF districts.

Currently, the Downtown Development Partnership board serves as the recommending body for TIF requests in the downtown district and the city planning board serves as the recommending body for TIF requests in the other four districts, which include West Bank, the airport, AgriTech Park and north industrial park that includes ADF and Malteurop.

The DDP has been the downtown TIF recommending body since 2014 and the planning board has been the recommending body for other districts since 2008, according to the city.

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In recent years, commissioners set a policy that requests under a certain dollar amount could be handled administratively by city staff.

All requests over that threshold come to the commission for consideration.

Under the new law, the new TIF review committee will have to approve a similar process for staff to administratively review and approve smaller funding requests.

Tax increment financing districts are those allowable under state law in specific areas based on the need for targeted economic development or urban renewal.

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Local governments set a base taxable valuation for properties within the district at the time it’s established, and increased taxes on improvements made after that base year stay within the district for eligible public improvements for the duration of the district.

Eligible uses of those funds are delineated in state law and have caused much consternation at the Legislature in recent years, but Great Falls’ TIF program has often been held as a model of appropriate use of TIF statewide.

During the 2025 legislative session, lawmakers approved a new law requiring that local governments with TIF districts “appoint an advisory committee to advise the local government about the administration of the urban renewal area or targeted economic development district. The committee must include at least one representative from each incorporated city or town, county, or school district with boundaries that overlap with the urban renewal area or targeted economic development.”

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A separate provision requires that a commission be established to oversee urban renewal agencies and has specific membership and term requirements.

Initially, city staff asked the Downtown Development Partnership to revise its bylaws to serve as the TIF review board.

It was discussed briefly over the summer and in a Sept. 19 email from Brock Cherry to Kellie Pierce, director of the Downtown Great Falls Association and Business Improvement District, he described proposed changes to the DDP bylaws.

Pierce forwarded the email to DDP members on Sept. 22 for their Sept. 24 meeting.

In his email, Cherry wrote that the new law required that any TIF advisory committee have members appointed by the City Commission who “serve staggered four year terms with the initial appointments split so that about half serve two years, and have vacancies filled by the City Commission for the remainder of the term.”

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The new law, however, does not set those term limits and initial staggering for a TIF advisory board. Those requirements were for an urban renewal agency, a separate provision in the law. Great Falls does not have an urban renewal agency and that section of the new law does not apply.

Asked about those distinctions in the law, Cherry told The Electric that he “mistakenly blended the statutory requirements” of the urban renewal agency with the TIF advisory committees.

Other sections of Title 7, which applies to local government, creates similar staggering terms to establish local advisory boards.

Asked further about the resolution on the Oct. 21 commission agenda that includes staggered terms for the new TIF advisory board, Cherry said that staff intentionally included the staggered terms that apply to an urban renewal district under the new law to “build in flexibility so that if the city ever decided to administer urban renewal projects through an agency model similar to Missoula, the committee’s structure would already align with those statutory provisions. This approach would allow minimal organizational changes if that ever occurred,” but the city is not considering creating an urban renewal agency at this time.

Cherry said an existing city resolution provides the authorization for city advisory board members to serve on more than one board so staff didn’t include that in the new TIF advisory board resolution but that he would note it during the Oct. 21 commission meeting.

Cherry told The Electric that he took responsibility for the delay in bringing the matter forward sooner as he’d initially assumed the city would be able to use existing boards and because the year has been full of major projects such as the growth policy.

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During the Sept. 24 DDP meeting, Cherry said he believed the intention of the new law was to ensure greater accountability of public funds that’s handled more directly by a government entity.

Cherry said “there’s no way around” the requirement of a TIF review body being recommended by commissioners.

Staff also considered having the city planning board be the TIF review body, but that board does not include a county or GFPS representative as it handles land use matters within the city limits and members are required to live within the city limits.

Brett Doney, Great Falls Development Alliance president, said that the DDP is an independent nonprofit created to support downtown. 

He said that GFDA supported the legislation during the session because they needed to give a procedural win to those trying to kill TIF.

Sherrie Arey, NeighborWorks Great Falls director, said that the DDP has more independence from the city and is better able to make TIF recommendations with member experience rather than reliance on city staff who promote the city agenda.

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She said she’s seen the city commission ebb and flow and make board appointments for political purposes “rather than the good of the city.”

Arey said the legislation tried to create transparency and accountability but “this is as step back in what we’re trying to achieve” and in honoring the taxpayers through the Great Falls TIF program.

Doney asked if the DDP members could table the item rather than rush and to allow time for the founding members to consult their boards.

Jake Clark of GFDA said that it seemed legislators didn’t take groups like DDP into account when passing the new law.

The group was also concerned that changing the nature of the DDP to be appointed by the city could jeopardize the downtown’s accreditation by the National Main Street program.

In a Sept. 29 memo to commissioners, Cherry wrote that the new law required a TIF advisory board that includes a representative from the county and school district with boundaries overlapping the TIF district.

Cherry wrote that staff had considered using the DDP and planning board with modifications to their membership, designating the planning board as the sole TIF advisory board or creating a new TIF advisory board.

Cherry wrote that the DDP had been concerned with changes to their membership and potential impact to its National Main Street designation.

“DDP members also expressed concerns about designating the [planning board] as the sole recommending body. With membership already filled, aside from the addition of county and school district representatives, the [planning board] structure would limit participation by downtown property owners, business owners, and other stakeholders directly affected by TIF decisions,” Cherry wrote.

In the Sept. 29 memo, staff recommended establishing the TIF advisory committee and that if commissioners agreed, staff would prepare the documents for consideration at a public hearing and, if needed, a work session.

The proposed committee is on the commission’s Oct. 21 agenda.