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02/09/2026
The Great Falls Development Alliance has proposed extending the term of an industrial tax increment financing district and requested that the city of Great Falls issue bonds to help complete the district’s buildout.
GFDA has managed and developed the AgriTech Park on Great Falls’ east end, and in 2013, the city approved a tax increment financing (TIF) district to help develop the utilities and infrastructure to attract businesses.
Great Falls has five TIF districts. They are mechanisms set up by the city to jump-start development as the TIF captures increases in tax revenue to pay off capital expenses and fund improvements, specifically for each district.
GFDA has spent a little over $4.5 million to develop infrastructure in the AgriTech Park, according to a presentation to city commissioners last week from GFDA CEO Brett Doney. Eight businesses have purchased lots and are operating in the park, including Pacific Steel, Ponderosa Solutions and a nearly completed building for Admiral Beverage.
The first business to build in the AgriTech Park, oilseed producer Montana Specialty Mills, started in 2017. Doney said that development in the heavy industrial park was slower than the organization had hoped. Growth in property tax values in the district is primarily used to pay off GFDA’s infrastructure investments. Because growth has been slow, the amount available to repay that debt has been less than expected. The organization still has about $1.6 million to pay off from the $4.5 million spent on development.
The TIF district is set to expire in 2028. If that happens, Doney said that GFDA doesn’t expect to recoup that remaining balance through routine TIF reimbursements.
At the same time, Doney said GFDA hopes to pursue another $1.6 million in new infrastructure improvements that will help make the vacant sites more marketable. There are still several sites for sale in the AgriTech Park, and GFDA is working on various prospects, Doney said.
“Having a park with as shovel-ready as possible sites makes you much more competitive,” he said. “And these days we’re getting requests for information through the state and through our own lead-generation resources several times per month.”
So, Doney proposed extending the TIF district and for the city to issue an estimated $3.2 million in bonds to pay off the balance from previous developments and to invest in the next phase of infrastructure — usually water, sewer and stormwater systems. The bond debt would be paid off over time from the extended TIF district, according to the proposal.
The city commission doesn’t yet have a formal proposal to consider. Some commissioners expressed skepticism about extending a TIF that keeps potential property tax revenue within the district rather than the city’s general fund. In general, TIF districts have set terms so that at the end of that term, a revitalized district can release a fresh wave of property tax revenue to local governments.
And when city officials are eyeing a potential new public safety levy, it’s understandable to look at the tax revenue that is being left on the table.
“It puts pressure on us to have a successful levy,” Commissioner Joe McKenney said. “So what can we do? When do we call it good? When do we say this TIF district is successful?”
The market value of all property in the AgriTech Park TIF has grown 9.3% since 2020, according to city data. Property in the downtown TIF has grown 24% in that time. The Great Falls International Airport, which is also developing light industrial lots, has seen its market value grow 81% since 2020.
Summer construction coming to Central Avenue
A stormwater improvement project was originally expected to take place in downtown alleys, but an updated plan means crews will tear up portions of Central Avenue this summer.
City engineers told Great Falls city commissioners Feb. 3 that the project will now replace storm drains on Central from Second Street to Fourth Street, as well as replacements to storm drains on adjacent Second Street, Fourth Street and Fifth Street. At the same time, crews will replace the water main on Central and reconstruct the affected roadways.
This is part of a long-term, multi-phase improvement plan. Last year’s work on First Avenue South and Third Street was the previous phase.
The original plans for the upcoming phase called for installing larger storm drains in the alleys on the north side of Central. But engineering studies showed that the alleys are clogged with a complex network of utility lines that could have made the work costly and difficult.
“The alleys are very congested,” Josh Sommer, a contract engineer with Great West, told commissioners.
So the project was revised and moved to Central Avenue, which already had a water main replacement scheduled for the future.
City officials said construction won’t interfere with Fourth of July events and that crews will work in half-block increments. Pedestrian access to businesses will remain open throughout the process, officials said. The work is expected to begin this summer and be done in the fall.
Photo Op
Take a moment and pause on this calming Great Falls sunrise, taken from the reporter’s backyard on Dec. 31, 2025.
Calling all photographers: Submit a photo for Great Falls This Week to [email protected].
New parking fees confined to Central Avenue
The Great Falls City Commission has approved increases to parking fees and fines, a change that’s meant as a temporary measure while a more permanent parking system is discussed.
The approved ordinance eliminates the city’s courtesy parking program, which offered free parking spots in front of businesses that paid a fee.
A separate resolution also approved by commissioners increases the hourly parking fee from $1 to $1.50 on Central Avenue only. This differed from the original proposal, which was an increase to $1.50 throughout downtown, because the city found that the coin-operated parking meters couldn’t be upgraded to accommodate the new rate. Parking along Central is paid for via the Passport app or at curbside kiosks.
The resolution also increased fines and eliminated the free first ticket, replacing it with a $10 fine. Second-time violations went from $5 to $20. Third-time violations went from $10 to $40 and fourth and subsequent violations went from $20 to $75. The new fines impact parking anywhere in the downtown district.
The new fee and fine structure is estimated to raise around $14,620 monthly and shore up a growing deficit in the parking fund, which has been losing between $15,000 and $20,000 each month. As of January, the fund was at a deficit of about $93,000.
The vote on the fee adjustment resolution was 4-1, with Commissioner Casey Schreiner against. He said that he wanted to see a broader public benefit demonstrated in the fee changes. Ongoing meetings of a so-called “parking summit” have largely included downtown business owners and residents.
“I do think in general we’re using general tax dollars to conduct our business, so I think it’s a broader scope of folks who need to be part of the conversation,” Schreiner said at the Feb. 3 meeting.
Other commissioners voted in favor, albeit while holding their noses. Commissioner Rick Tryon said that this wouldn’t be his pick for a long-term parking fee structure and said that any system that runs at a deficit would be unacceptable.
A new plan for a permanent parking system is expected before an April 30 deadline.
Blood contamination lawsuit expanded
A lawsuit filed against a food service provider at the Cascade County Detention Center has expanded.
The case, originally filed in December, alleges that a food preparer had a bloody nose and contaminated food with blood. That preparer was positive for hepatitis C, according to the lawsuit. When the contamination was found in the kitchen, supervisors from Summit Correctional Services ordered the food to go out for service, saying that inmates could “scoop around” the blood, the lawsuit alleges.
At least three inmates have since tested positive for hepatitis C for the first time.
The lawsuit originally had 27 plaintiffs. They were inmates who were served the contaminated food. The lawsuit has now expanded to 92 inmates, according to an amended complaint filed Jan. 30.
The lawsuit now also names two supervisors from the food service contractor. It alleges that Tasha Cummins prohibited food line workers from disposing of the contaminated food and that Joy Smith, who supervised Cummins, learned of the contamination but failed to take action.
Neither Smith nor Cummins was the person with the bloody nose who caused the contamination.
Cummins and Smith were added as defendants in the lawsuit alongside Summit Correctional Service (also known as Summit Food Service). Cascade County and the sheriff’s office are not defendants at this time. Summit has not filed a response in the lawsuit, which is being heard in U.S. District Court in Great Falls.
Hepatitis C is more commonly transmitted through breaks in the skin or sharing needles, not through eating a contaminated item.
An attorney in the case told MTFP in January that the inmates believe they contracted hepatitis C through “open cuts and sores” rather than ingesting the food.
5 Things to Know in Great Falls
The Great Falls City Commission declined to vote on ordering box seats for the Voyagers baseball stadium due to the appearance of a conflict of interest. Great Falls firm LPW Architecture was contracted for design work and coordinated the seat order. Tim Peterson, a principal architect at LPW, is also a director at Enbar, Inc., which owns and operates the Great Falls Voyagers. The issue was first raised by Commissioner Rick Tryon, and no vote was taken on the seat order during the Feb. 3 meeting.
A Great Falls team has won a Congressional App Challenge for school students. Lily Kirkaldie, Charlie Kotthoff and Danica Sabo of the team Great Falls Starbase won in Montana’s second congressional district with their app, “Cursive Create.” The app helps teach cursive writing, according to a press release. The winners participate in
Girls Code United, the organization that announced the awards.
The Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind Foundation received a $250,000 gift from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation and Modern Machinery. The money will refresh campus housing through the “Cottage Refresh Project,” according to an announcement. The living quarters haven’t been updated since 1983.
The season-bucking temperature of 70 in Great Falls on Feb. 5 tied the all-time high record, which has been hit three times since 1891, according to KRTV meteorologist Erik Johnson. The Feb. 4 high temperature of 63 was a record for that date. The National Weather Service predicts more seasonable weather this week.
The family, friends and community of Juanita Lacanilao Rosales celebrated her 100th birthday this past weekend. According to Tony Rosales, who announced the milestone, Juanita has lived in Great Falls for 70 years, worked as a nurse and has been an active member of the church. Happy birthday!