One year after Idaho began offering a tax incentive program to expanding and relocating businesses, the bells of success pealed proudly at the state capital.

The Tax Reimbursement Incentive was approved for 16 business expansion projects statewide, with three of them in Kootenai County. What that means, according to the Idaho Commerce Department, is this: Approval for incentives on 3,177 new jobs generating $1.27 billion in new payroll dollars.

"The Tax Reimbursement Incentive has truly been a game changer for the state to attract new businesses and grow existing Idaho businesses," said Butch Otter, Idaho's governor. "The first year of TRI has surpassed our expectations, and I look forward to seeing how this tool continues to help accelerate Idaho's economy."

Before all those $1.27 billion new dollars are pressed into wallets and bank accounts, however, sources acknowledged that the largesse represents projects that have been approved - not necessarily that all those 3,177 have actually been filled. And in Kootenai County's case, the TRI factor is significant even if many of the new approved jobs don't actually exist yet.

Gynii Abracosa Gilliam, president of Jobs Plus - the county's public-private economic development agency - was asked how confident she is that 162 approved jobs between two businesses in Hayden will actually materialize with TRI's help.

"I'm going to say 98 percent," she said, predicting that the jobs would be added over the next 18 to 24 months at least but "hopefully sooner than that.

"One of them I've been working with very closely, and all I can say is that I know they need to hire."

According to the Commerce Department, TRI offers a refundable tax credit of up to 30 percent on income, payroll, and sales taxes for up to 15 years. To qualify, though, companies must create at least 50 new jobs in an urban community - or 20 in a rural community - with wages above the average county wage. For the smaller cities in Kootenai County, that means a business would have to create at least 20 new jobs that pay $33,736 or more annually, according to Megan Ronk of the Commerce Department.

Why is Gilliam such a fan? Because the incentive isn't front-loaded, like so many previous economic development tools were structured around the country.

"One of the things we like about it is that it's at no risk to the state," she said. "The company has to perform - they have to create the jobs before they can get the incentive. The other thing I really like about it is that they have to pay at or above the county average. I think it's a really good tool for us in getting our region's wages higher."

Gilliam said that while TRI is an excellent recruitment and retention tool, it isn't going to create jobs all by itself. But it will be a difference-maker.

"All else being equal, this is probably the thing that will tip them over to the Idaho side or the expansion side," she said. "It's what tips the scales."

Gilliam said "on the conservative side," she's working with two other companies not on Commerce's list of 16 that are seriously considering applying for the incentive and adding to Kootenai County's jobs base.

"Of course, it's always up to the company to decide if they're going to go after it," she said.

According to Commerce, the average wage of TRI-generated jobs is $44,400, well above the statewide average of $36,152. The 16 approved projects include seven existing Idaho companies expanding and nine companies coming into Idaho. There are three approved projects in Kootenai County, but only one - ATC Manufacturing in Post Falls, with 225 new jobs - has been named.

The lower job requirement in cities with less than 25,000 in population has also made TRI an important economic development tool in rural areas, with half of the approved TRI projects located in rural communities. The incentive is being used by a wide range of companies, including advanced manufacturing, aerospace, food production, back office and shared services, software and technology, and travel and tourism.

The 16 TRI projects are anticipated to generate over $211 million in new tax revenue to the state, with an overall return investment of $7 for every $1 in TRI value awarded.

"Getting the TRI approved by the governor and Legislature was the easy part - the more challenging aspect of TRI has been developing a program that is fair, equitable and transparent," said Idaho Commerce Director Jeff Sayer. "I believe we have developed a strong process that has been well received by the business community and simultaneously protects the state's interest in making sure the promised jobs are delivered."