Kalispell Councilors Approve TIF Funds for Replacing Downtown Street Furniture
The $508,650 Tax Increment Financing request will pay for 63 steel benches, 55 trash receptacles and 54 planter boxes
By Zoë Buhrmaster
Downtown Kalispell will receive some new street furniture with the Kalispell City Council’s approval of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funds for the project Monday night. TIF dollars are property taxes earmarked for use improving blighted properties and other development projects within a district.
The city’s 25-year-old furniture is far past its prime, with the paint on many of the maroon benches, trash receptacles and planter boxes deteriorating and exposing rust.
At the meeting, councilors considered a request for TIF funds from the Kalispell Business Improvement District (KBID) to replace and add 63 steel benches, 55 litter receptacles and 54 new planters. Ten benches and 9 receptacles would be located within Depot Park, while the rest would be located throughout downtown.
KBID Board Chair Kisa Davison said the application reduces the number of benches downtown due to property owner feedback about low use. The application also includes an increase in the number of trash receptacles because of complaints about not enough bins during downtown events.
“We’ve put a fair amount into the thought of mapping,” Davison said, noting that KBID will work with public works staff on final locations. “And we’re trying to be a little bit more thoughtful about where those trash receptacles go.”
KBID requested $508,650 from the Downtown and Westside districts for the project, with 80% from the downtown TIF and 20% from the Westside TIF. The city would own the municipal site amenities while KBID would be responsible for maintenance.
The cost estimates include $2,500 per bench for a total of $157,500, $110,000 for the receptacles and $66,366 for the planters. Concrete and sidewalk work associated with replacing the site furnishings is estimated at $50,400 and the construction contingency is 5%, at $24,224.
Removal, transportation and installation is estimated to cost around $100,000, though Swank Enterprises has offered to do it for free. If it is able to do it during the proposed schedule, KBID would spend only $408,490 of the TIF request.
Compass Construction owner Bill Goldberg also offered to donate the labor costs during Monday night’s public comment.
“If Swank’s guys are busy, and my guys are available, then I will match it,” Goldberg said.
Councilors praised the use of TIF dollars for the beautification of downtown but had varying opinions about the application’s requirement that all benches have a center armrest. Councilor Wes Walker said he was against the center armrest because of tis association as “hostile architecture” in preventing members of the homeless community from sleeping on such benches.
Walker also pointed to the additional costs for center arms, quoted at about $3,380, and the arms as prohibiting families or larger-sized people from using a bench.
“In an attempt to punish a very small subsection of the population, everybody has to deal with worse outcomes, with a less welcoming community,” Walker said. “It’s a no brainer to me.”
Walker proposed an amendment that no more than half of replacement benches have center arms, which failed.
Councilor Dustin Leftridge noted the center armrests also serve as an accessibility feature for elderly people who need two armrests to support their transition between sitting and standing. He proposed an amendment to remove the mandatory requirement that all benches have center armrests, while leaving the discretion up to KBID.
“I’m pretty sure the percentage of seniors is much higher than the unhoused,” Councilor Lisa Blank said.
Councilors unanimously approved Leftridge’s amendment to remove the requirement, making it optional.
Councilors voted in favor of KBID’s TIF request, except for Walker and Mayor Ryan Hunter who said that despite being in favor of new street furniture they would not support the proposal because of the center armrests. Hunter also referred to the armrests as “hostile architecture” and, noting his own experience with his elderly parents, said elderly folks can use other parts of the bench for support. He said he believed KBID would still likely install center armrests as they were part of the application.
With the TIF request approved, KBID will likely go through with installation of the new street furniture in spring or fall 2027.
“We have these businesses that show a lot of love, money, and passion in downtown and I really think that Kalispell should do the same,” Leftridge said.