One of the recommendations is to increase state oversight of local TIF programs. We don’t agree. Montana’s legislators, especially those in more rural communities that have no experience with TIF, have proven reluctant to allow for more flexibility — one of the recommendations in the report. Flexibility is key to freeing some of the money created by TIF district for public projects of arguably higher priority. In Missoula, housing affordability and energy sustainability are two areas where TIF has enormous potential to provide enormous public benefit.

That’s not to downplay the advancements in affordable housing that have already been made thanks to TIF. More than half a dozen local affordable housing projects have received TIF reimbursements, from the Palace Apartments downtown to the environmentally sustainable Equinox and Solstice buildings. But the ability to use TIF funds more broadly to support community priorities is extremely limited.

Awaiting action in the Legislature, the city continues to seek creative ways around these limitations. It has twice pulled money from TIF districts to bolster the general fund, and in doing so avoided raising property taxes. Indeed, TIF reduces the overall tax burden of property owners, because it creates money that otherwise wouldn’t exist.