Prior to the sunset of the 1976 downtown Tax Increment District (TID), the City Council adopted a resolution that outlined how funds remaining in the TID account would be spent.  The Council also approved a development agreement with the Downtown Billings Partnership (DBP) that named it as the project manager.  The resolution and development agreement were amended twice during 2008.  There is an account balance of $880,000 and according to the resolutions and development agreement, any balance is supposed to be spent on the downtown street light and signal replacement project.  It also requires that the funds be committed to the project by December 31, 2009. Public Works is preparing a preliminary design and cost estimates and plans to bid a design-build contract by that date.  However, the contract may not be executed by the end of the year and the project will be built in 2010.  The resolution that Council will consider confirms that the City will spend the remaining account balance on this project and sets a new construction completion date of December 31, 2010.  The DBP development agreement does not need to be amended because this resolution does not change the DBP's management role or the project priority. 

The City Council may:

• Approve the resolution and spend the account balance on the street light project.  This will offset the City's cost share obligation when the City terminates SILMD 97 and creates a new downtown street light district; or
• Disapprove the resolution and allow the account balance to be distributed to the state, county, school district and city in proportion to their tax levies. 

Staff recommends that the City Council approve the Resolution that amends Resolution No. 07-18636, No. 08-18680 and No. 08-18744, designates the remaining TID account balance to the downtown street light and traffic signal project and establishes a new completion date of December 31, 2010.