The Mountain Mall will receive an infusion of tax dollars to help remodel its aging facade after the Whitefish City Council voted Monday night to assist the project.

The decision to give $200,000 in tax-increment funds for the mall remodel reverses the stance a month ago when council members denied a request from Carrington Co., owner of the Mountain Mall, for $400,000 in tax-increment money.

According to mall manager Tom Kraus, the mall has entered into lease agreements to bring in a ShopKo Hometown store. However, the agreement is contingent upon the mall getting an exterior facelift.

On Monday, Kraus said the project would be put on hold if the city denied the tax-increment request a second time. He said they took council comments into consideration when crafting the new proposal.

“We didn’t want to allow this project to die,” he said. “We’ve taken a look at it and found places where we can value engineer.”

The complete project cost to make space for ShopKo is estimated at $3.7 million, Kraus said. The  exterior remodel is estimated to cost $650,000. Tax-increment funds are to be used only for the facade work.

Kraus told the council the 28-year-old mall qualifies as blight and said the current block facade is falling down.

Similar to the first proposal, Kraus said that if tax-increment revenues from the mall do not equal $200,000 by 2020, mall owners plan to pay back the balance to the city.

Council member Andy Feury said that while he has concerns about using tax-increment dollars for a private project, he also believes the U.S. 93 strip deserves some attention.

“The mall is an asset to the community… and good for the community,” he said. “I can feel good about approving this request.”

City Manager Chuck Stearns said using tax increment on the facade remodel would be an allowed use.

“Facades are interpreted to be for the public good,” he said. “The public has to see them all the time.”

“We have put a lot of tax-increment funds into the downtown area in recent years and propose to do so with the city hall and parking structure project, and it would be good to provide some assistance on Highway 93 South.”

Council member John Anderson remained firm that using tax dollars to remodel a private business was “inappropriate.”

The council voted 3-2 in support of funding the remodel with Anderson and Jen Frandsen in opposition.

Baldwin is the editor of the Whitefish Pilot.