The Kalispell City Council will discuss an ongoing study to update city water and sewer rates at tonight’s work session. The process to update Kalispell utility rates began in September and the council plans to propose adopting the new rates in March 2020.

The Kalispell Public Works Department is working with HDR Engineering to perform revenue-requirement and cost-of-service analyses on the city’s utilities. They are also endeavoring to develop corresponding rate structures to generate adequate funds and, as described in the meeting materials, “maintain the same quality of service, fund capital projects … [and] fund an equipment replacement plan.”

Council staff will go over these expectations and discuss proposed water and wastewater impact fees. According to the agenda, “the purpose of impact fees is to create equity between existing customers and new customers connecting to the city’s water and sewer utility systems. The objective of an impact fee study is to calculate cost-based fees for new customers connecting to, or requesting additional capacity to, the city’s water and sewer systems.”

The council will look at the study results and recommended rate and impact fees on Jan. 13.

The council will also discuss new Tax Increment Finance District policies tonight.

The Kalispell Urban Renewal Agency has proposed policies to assist with Tax Increment Financing (TIF) district funding. Drafts of the Downtown Kalispell TIF Assistance Program and the Amended West Side Urban Renewal–Core Area TIF Assistance Program provide guidelines for generating TIF funding in the two districts.

According to the work-session agenda, TIF assistance programs are intended “to encourage the location, expansion and retention of business and housing opportunities.” These programs are also meant “to encourage desirable development/redevelopment projects, as well as assist projects that would not otherwise occur ‘but for’ the assistance provided through TIF.”

TIF programs are also expected to “expand the property tax base in the district through private investment in income-producing properties; stimulate economic and business development within the district by improving public infrastructure deficiencies; and reduce blighted properties within the district.”

These draft policies were previously presented at a June 24 work session and have been amended based on requests for a more formalized process to request TIF assistance. The policies now include provisions of a staff report with findings of fact, evaluation criteria of proposed projects and a third-party analysis of projects requesting more than $100,000 in TIF assistance.

The main difference in the new draft TIF policies is a change to the shared utilities program. Under the current shared utility program, there is a maximum grant of $150,000 and no provisions for the payment of impact fees. The proposed assistance programs would encompass grants related to 100% of all public infrastructure costs, including impact fees.

Full details of the policies and criteria for evaluation are available in the agenda for the work session, which can be found here: https://www.kalispell.com/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_11252019-356

The work session will begin at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, 201 First Ave. East.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at bserbin@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.