Development proposals and questions about distributing money from the Westside Tax Increment Financing District will be on the table at a May 12 public meeting at Kalispell City Hall.

Council members will discuss the future of the area with people from the business community, west-side residents and anybody else interested in the topic.

But to ensure time for research, Mayor Tammi Fisher asks anyone with questions or concerns on the Westside TIF to submit them by Wednesday. Send them to the Kalispell City Clerk at 201 First Ave. E., P.O. Box 1997, Kalispell, MT 59903 or e-mail them to cityclerk@kalispell.com.

An April 19 City Council discussion about distributing some money from the tax-increment fund to taxing entities who get revenue from the district, such as the schools and the city, gave rise to the May 12 public meeting.

City Manager Jane Howington and Finance Director Amy Robertson gave the council a proposal for distributing $1.5 million of the $1.8 million remaining in the fund after this spring’s final debt payment on bonds issued in 2000.

Those funded projects at Gateway West Mall and improvements to Meridian Road, Lower Spring Creek, Two Mile Drive, Liberty Street, Appleway Drive and other district streets.

When the district was formed in 1997, revenue distribution levels were frozen. Tax increases since then have gone into the fund, targeted for economic development and job growth.

With two years left until the district sunsets and no formal funding applications in the pipeline, City Manager Jane Howington asked the council whether the best stewardship is to keep all the money on hand for future projects or to distribute some of it now.

Howington suggested no more than $1.5 million be distributed.

Under that scenario, Flathead Valley Community College would get about $35,000, Kalispell elementary schools about $315,000 and Flathead High about $206,000.

The state general schools fund would get its 15 percent share at just over $225,000 and the county’s noxious weed fund would get seven-tenths of a percent for about $1,000.

The biggest distribution would go to the city: $378,000. Howington said that would go into the cash reserve fund.

If the $1.5 million is distributed, the remaining $283,000 would combine with $150,000 second-half payments due in June/July plus another $300,000 expected in fiscal year 2011 for a $733,000 balance when the fund closes in March 2012.

Three people from the business and nonprofit community asked the council on April 19 to keep their considerations in mind. Montana West Economic Development Executive Director Kellie Danielson asked the council to postpone a decision until after she could meet with business people and others who might have proposals and questions.

Council members tabled discussion to their May 17 meeting and Mayor Fisher scheduled the May 12 meeting.

“We received some comments from business groups that they didn’t understand why we want to take a withdrawal from the Westside TIF, and they want more information,” Fisher said. “I think they were confused about what it was supposed to be for.”

The original intent of the district was to improve infrastructure in the Meridian Road and Appleway Drive areas, address transportation issues and incompatible land uses, and extend city services.

The City Council approved the Westside district in 1997, then in 2000 issued bonds to fund a long list of projects.

The latest distribution from the Westside TIF was in 2004 when Financial Drive was upgraded.

“We would be amenable to a project in the next two years if anyone has a proposal,” Fisher said, “but it would need to do two things — increase employment and be an economic benefit to that area … If there’s a large-scale project, we could bond for that and extend the TIF” or follow a number of other options.

She said there wouldn’t be an appreciable difference between making distributions now or in another two years when the district ends.

The May 12 meeting starts at 7 p.m. in City Hall Council Chambers.