INTRODUCED
BY M. Hopkins, B. Tschida
By Request of the ****
A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT AMENDING TAX INCREMENT FINANCING LAWS TO REQUIRE A GOVERNING BODY TO APPROVE A TAX INCREMENT PROVISION; AMENDING SECTIONS 7-15-4206, 7-15-4233, AND 7-15-4282, MCA; AND PROVIDING AN APPLICABILITY DATE."
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
Section 1. Section 7-15-4206, MCA, is amended to read:
"7-15-4206. Definitions. The following terms, wherever used or referred to in part 43 or this part, have the following meanings unless a different meaning is clearly indicated by the context:
(1) "Agency" or "urban renewal agency" means a public agency created by 7-15-4232.
(2) "Blighted area" means an area that is conducive to ill health, transmission of disease, infant mortality, juvenile delinquency, and crime, that substantially impairs or arrests the sound growth of the city or its environs, that retards the provision of housing accommodations, or that constitutes an economic or social liability or is detrimental or constitutes a menace to the public health, safety, welfare, and morals in its present condition and use, by reason of:
(a) the substantial physical dilapidation, deterioration, age obsolescence, or defective construction, material, and arrangement of buildings or improvements, whether residential or nonresidential;
(b) inadequate provision for ventilation, light, proper sanitary facilities, or open spaces as determined by competent appraisers on the basis of an examination of the building standards of the municipality;
(c) inappropriate or mixed uses of land or buildings;
(d) high density of population and overcrowding;
(e) defective or inadequate street layout;
(f) faulty lot layout in relation to size, adequacy, accessibility, or usefulness;
(g) excessive land coverage;
(h) unsanitary or unsafe conditions;
(i) deterioration of site;
(j) diversity of ownership;
(k) tax or special assessment delinquency exceeding the fair value of the land;
(l) defective or unusual conditions of title;
(m) improper subdivision or obsolete platting;
(n) the existence of conditions that endanger life or property by fire or other causes; or
(o) any combination of the factors listed in this subsection (2).
(3) "Bonds" means any bonds, notes, or debentures, including refunding obligations, authorized to be issued pursuant to part 43 or this part.
(5) "Elected" means chosen by vote or acclamation or appointed to a vacancy in an otherwise elected position.
(5)(6) "Federal government" means the United
States of America or any agency or instrumentality, corporate or otherwise, of
the United States of America.
(6)(7) "Local governing body" means the elected members of a council or other elected members of a legislative body charged with governing the a municipality or consolidated city-county.
(7)(8) "Mayor" means the chief executive of a
city or town.
(8)(9) "Municipality" means any incorporated
city or town in the state.
(9)(10) "Neighborhood development program" means
the yearly activities or undertakings of a municipality in an urban renewal
area or areas if the municipality elects to undertake activities on an annual
increment basis.
(10)(11) "Obligee" means any bondholder or agent
or trustee for any bondholder or lessor conveying to the municipality property
used in connection with an urban renewal project or any assignee or assignees
of the lessor's interest or any part of the interest and the federal government
when it is a party to any contract with the municipality.
(11)(12) "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership,
corporation, company, association, joint-stock association, or school district
and includes any trustee, receiver, assignee, or other person acting in a
similar representative capacity.
(12)(13) "Public body" means the state or any
municipality, township, board, commission, district, or other subdivision or
public body of the state.
(13)(14) "Public officer" means any officer who
is in charge of any department or branch of the government of the municipality
relating to health, fire, building regulations, or other activities concerning
dwellings in the municipality.
(14)(15) "Public use" means:
(a) a public use enumerated in 70-30-102; or
(b) a project financed by the method provided for in 7-15-4288.
(15)(16) "Real property" means all lands,
including improvements and fixtures on the land, all property of any nature
appurtenant to the land or used in connection with the land, and every estate,
interest, right, and use, legal or equitable, in the land, including terms for
years and liens by way of judgment, mortgage, or otherwise.
(16)(17) "Redevelopment" may include:
(a) acquisition of a blighted area or portion of the area;
(b) demolition and removal of buildings and improvements;
(c) installation, construction, or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, and other improvements necessary for carrying out in the area the urban renewal provisions of this part in accordance with the urban renewal plan; and
(d) making the land available for development or redevelopment by private enterprise or public agencies, including sale, initial leasing, or retention by the municipality itself, at its fair value for uses in accordance with the urban renewal plan. If the property is condemned pursuant to Title 70, chapter 30, the private enterprise or public agencies may not develop the condemned area in a way that is not for a public use.
(17)(18) (a) "Rehabilitation" may include
the restoration and renewal of a blighted area or portion of the area in
accordance with an urban renewal plan by:
(i) carrying out plans for a program of voluntary or compulsory repair and rehabilitation of buildings or other improvements;
(ii) acquisition of real property and demolition or removal of buildings and improvements on the property when necessary to eliminate unhealthful, unsanitary, or unsafe conditions, to lessen density, to reduce traffic hazards, to eliminate obsolete or other uses detrimental to the public welfare, to otherwise remove or prevent the spread of blight or deterioration, or to provide land for needed public facilities;
(iii) installation, construction, or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, and other improvements necessary for carrying out in the area the urban renewal provisions of this part; and
(iv) subject to 7-15-4259(4), the disposition of any property acquired in the urban renewal area, including sale, initial leasing, or retention by the municipality itself, at its fair value for uses in accordance with the urban renewal plan.
(b) Rehabilitation may not include the development of the condemned area in a way that is not for a public use if the property is condemned pursuant to Title 70, chapter 30.
(18)(19) "Urban renewal area" means a blighted
area that the local governing body designates as appropriate for an urban
renewal project or projects.
(19)(20) "Urban renewal plan" means a plan for
one or more urban renewal areas or for an urban renewal project. The plan:
(a) must conform to the growth policy if one has been adopted pursuant to Title 76, chapter 1; and
(b) must be sufficiently complete to indicate, on a yearly basis or otherwise:
(i) any land acquisition, demolition, and removal of structures; redevelopment; improvements; and rehabilitation that is proposed to be carried out in the urban renewal area;
(ii) zoning and planning changes, if any, including changes to the growth policy if one has been adopted pursuant to Title 76, chapter 1;
(iii) land uses, maximum densities, building requirements; and
(iv) the plan's relationship to definite local objectives respecting appropriate land uses, improved traffic, public transportation, public utilities, recreational and community facilities, and other public improvements.
(20)(21) (a) "Urban renewal project" may
include undertakings or activities of a municipality in an urban renewal area
for the elimination and for the prevention of the development or spread of
blight and may involve redevelopment in an urban renewal area, rehabilitation
or conservation in an urban renewal area, or any combination or part of
redevelopment, rehabilitation, or conservation in accordance with an urban
renewal plan.
(b) An urban renewal project may not include using property that was condemned pursuant to Title 70, chapter 30, for anything other than a public use."
Section 2. Section 7-15-4233, MCA, is amended to read:
"7-15-4233. Powers which may be exercised by urban renewal agency or authorized department. (1) In the event the local governing body makes such the determination provided for in 7-15-4232, such the local governing body may authorize the urban renewal agency or department or other officers of the municipality to exercise any of the following urban renewal project powers:
(a) to formulate and coordinate a workable program as specified in 7-15-4209;
(b) to prepare urban renewal plans, except that the local governing body shall approve the inclusion of a tax increment provision;
(c) to prepare recommended modifications to an urban renewal project plan;
(d) to undertake and carry out urban renewal projects as required by the local governing body;
(e) to make and execute contracts as specified in 7-15-4251, 7-15-4254, 7-15-4255, and 7-15-4281, with the exception of contracts for the purchase or sale of real or personal property;
(f) to disseminate blight clearance and urban renewal information;
(g) to exercise the powers prescribed by 7-15-4255, except the power to agree to conditions for federal financial assistance and imposed pursuant to federal law relating to salaries and wages shall be reserved to the local governing body;
(h) to enter any building or property in any urban renewal area in order to make surveys and appraisals in the manner specified in 7-15-4257;
(i) to improve, clear, or prepare for redevelopment any real or personal property in an urban renewal area;
(j) to insure real or personal property as provided in 7-15-4258;
(k) to effectuate the plans provided for in 7-15-4254;
(l) to prepare plans for the relocation of families displaced from an urban renewal area and to coordinate public and private agencies in such relocation;
(m) to prepare plans for carrying out a program of voluntary or compulsory repair and rehabilitation of buildings and improvements;
(n) to conduct appraisals, title searches, surveys, studies, and other preliminary plans and work necessary to prepare for the undertaking of urban renewal projects;
(o) to negotiate for the acquisition of land;
(p) to study the closing, vacating, planning, or replanning of streets, roads, sidewalks, ways, or other places and to make recommendations with respect thereto;
(q) to organize, coordinate, and direct the administration of the provisions of this part and part 43;
(r) to perform such duties as directed by the local governing body may direct so as to make the necessary arrangements for the exercise of the powers and performance of the duties and responsibilities entrusted to the local governing body.
(2) Any powers granted in this part or part 43 that are not included in subsection (1) as powers of the urban renewal agency or a department or other officers of a municipality in lieu thereof of the local governing body may only be exercised by the local governing body or other officers, boards, and commissions as provided under existing law."
Section 3. Section 7-15-4282, MCA, is amended to read:
"7-15-4282. Authorization for tax increment financing. (1) An urban renewal plan as defined in 7-15-4206 or a targeted economic development district comprehensive development plan created as provided in 7-15-4279 may contain a provision or be amended to contain a tax increment provision for the segregation and application of tax increments as provided in 7-15-4282 through 7-15-4294. The local governing body shall approve the adoption of a tax increment provision included in an urban renewal plan. The legislative body of a local government shall approve the adoption of a tax increment provision included in a targeted economic development district comprehensive development plan.
(2) (a) Before adopting a tax increment financing provision as part of an urban renewal plan or a comprehensive development plan, a municipality shall provide notice to the county and the school district in which the urban renewal district or targeted economic development district is located and provide the county and school district with the opportunity to meet and consult in a public meeting with the opportunity for public comment regarding the proposed tax increment financing provision and its effect on the county or school district.
(b) Before adopting a tax increment financing provision as part of a comprehensive development plan, a county shall provide notice to the school district in which the targeted economic development district is located and provide the school district with the opportunity to meet and consult in a public meeting with the opportunity for public comment regarding the proposed tax increment financing provision and its effect on the school district.
(3) The tax increment financing provision must take into account the effect on the county and school districts that include local government territory."
Section 4. Applicability. [This act] applies to tax increment provisions adopted on or after [the effective date of this act].