The City of Billings and Yellowstone County are scrutinizing a proposed lending option for businesses which many believe would be a boost to economic development. Called C-Pace, the program would allow businesses to borrow money from lenders and make repayment as a part of their property tax bill. The loan would be attached to the property rather than the borrower – something like a lien.

Overseeing the program is a Great Falls-based non-profit organization connected to the Montana Department of Commerce called the Montana Facility Finance Authority (MFFA). MFFA has traditionally specialized in serving the medical care industry to finance energy and water-saving measures in the process of remodeling or building new buildings. MFFA aids companies in processing taxes, loans and grants for health care.

MFFA wants to extend their services to other businesses and to utilize the property tax collection system to facilitate repayment of the loans. MFFA would serve as the facilitator that handles the disbursement of the money collected through tax bills to the appropriate financial institution or bank. Delinquencies would be dealt with as part of the total tax bill and in the same way as delinquent taxes.

Implementing C-Pace would necessitate a hearing process and approval of a resolution by county commissioners, but before moving forward the county commissioners are asking their legal advisors to check the fine print to make sure that the county can in no way be held responsible for any defaults.

City of Billings officials are interested in the concept, but are waiting to see if the county moves forward in adopting the program, since the city would be part of any county-wide application.

County Treasurer Sherry Long expressed concern about the idea and has a lot of questions that she believes must be answered before the county adopts it.

During a discussion meeting, a number of people spoke about the potential economic development benefits and encouraged county commissioners to join seven other counties that have already adopted the financing option. They urged the county commissioners to act quickly since there are projects already pending, they said.