The South Billings Urban Renewal Association (SBURA) Board has reviewed this application for tax increment assistance and recommends the City Council approve, upon project completion, a maximum of $154,801.00 of funds from the South Billings Boulevard Tax Increment Finance District (TIFD) to Wendbill, LLC (dba Wendy’s).  Actual reimbursement will be based upon 100% of the actual costs incurred for qualified expenses for the improvements made to the property at 4720 King Ave East, subject to the following conditions:

1. The Applicant shall sign a development agreement with the City of Billings and SBURA within 180 days of City Council’s approval.
    
2. This TIFD reimbursement is the maximum that can be received pending satisfactory submission of all paid invoices showing the completion of expenditures related to this project.
    
3. If funds are not available, reimbursement can be carried over to the next fiscal year

The SBURA board considered Wendbill, LLC’s application for tax increment assistance at its May 3, 2022, board meeting and voted 5-1 to recommend the application to the City Council. Wendbill, LLC is seeking tax increment finance assistance to construct a sidewalk on the perimeter of its property along with a concrete curb ($76,911).  Additionally, it is seeking tax increment assistance for the landscaping associated with the development ($77,889.95). This request is very similar to the request from Taco Johns (Ole Rentals, LLC) the Council approved November 8, 2021 for site development for its new restaurant in the same area of the Miller Crossing Subdivision. There has been renewed interest and subsequent development in the Miller Crossing Subdivision recently, and Taco John's and Wendy's are both part of this new activity.

The single dissenting vote by SBURA Board Member Andrew Houlihan for this application was not because he did not support the project or providing TIF funds to it. He noted several reasons for his vote, including the amount recommended for award was more than what had been recommended to Taco John's, an almost identical application request, the project per the applicants comments was going to be completed whether the TIF assistance was granted, and the SBURA was seeing significant other development interest and potential TIF funding needs in the future that need to be considered from a budget standpoint.

Wendbill LLC, a subsidiary of Wentana, LLC, operates 16 Wendy’s restaurants in Montana. Wendbill, LLC is investing in the Miller Crossing area of the South Billings Boulevard Urban Renewal District primarily because of the recent growth in the District. This restaurant will employ approximately 50 people.

The SBURA Board supports the project and found it was a match for accessing urban renewal funds because:

• The public improvements proposed for reimbursement for the overall project exceeds the 5:1 private to public matching fund recommendation of the City's TIF Policy.
• The application aligns with City TIF Policy, MCA, and the SBBURD Urban Renewal Plan (See Table 1 below and attachments).

Table 1

Qualified Improvements	Estimated Cost	City TIF Policy	Urban Renewal Plan	MT Code Annotated
Sidewalks & Curbs Landscaping	$76,911 $77,890	Section 1(b) Section 1(b)	Section 13 Section 14	7-15-4288(4) 7-15-4288(4)

City Council may:

• Approve the recommendation from the SBURA board or the expenditure of these tax increment finance (TIF) funds that are consistent with elements of the South Billings Boulevard Urban Renewal Plan, or;
• Modify the recommendation from the SBURA board for the expenditure of these TIF before taking action, or;
• Disapprove the recommendations from the SBURA board for these expenditures of these TIF funds.  If the Council chooses not to approve the TIF application, specific reasoning for the denial is helpful to provide further direction to the SBURA board and City Staff for future applications.

The recommendation is for a maximum of $154,801 to be reimbursed to Wendbill, LLC for the identified work (See SBURA recommendation attached to this memo).  The estimated total project cost is approximately $2,434,670, making the private to public investment ratio for this project about 16:1.  The funds are payable per the conditions of approval outlined in the SBURA recommendation and pending satisfactory submission of all paid invoices showing actual cost incurred for the project.  Currently, the project is estimated for completion in late 2022.  These payments are already incorporated into the FY23 budget.