Six years ago, the city of Spokane adopted a program designed to spur the construction of multifamily housing downtown and in other key locations around Spokane. As the program’s success has become conspicuous, it has fallen under criticism that it amounts to a giveaway to the rich.

City Councilman Al French alluded to that mistaken impression early in last Monday’s Council meeting when he shared some figures about how the plan – technically the “Multiple Family Housing Property Tax Exemption – is performing. As French noted, the facts dispute the skepticism that surfaced once such upscale proposals as the Kendall Yards development began to receive public attention.

In fact, the tax exemption is encouraging sensible planning practices while addressing housing needs that transcend income levels. By forgiving the first 10 years of property taxes on the new construction, the exemption gives developers an incentive to put up condominium and apartment buildings that may not have penciled out otherwise.

Put a different way, the city agrees not to collect a tax it wasn’t going to collect anyway. It does, however, collect taxes on the land where the new construction sits, including any increased value, and on any portion of the structure used for commercial purposes such as retail or office rental. And when the 10-year exemption ends, the city’s property tax base enjoys a healthy bump.

So far, according to the city Department of Planning Services, the 25 projects qualified under the program account for 836 living units. Some are condos that will indeed be occupied by wealthy residents.

Overall, however, condos ranging from a relatively modest $165,000 to $1.1 million account for 252 of those units. The other 584 are apartments and 256 of those, nearly half, are low-income units that qualify for rent subsidies.

At the same time it is addressing part of the affordable housing challenge in Spokane, the exemption is supporting Spokane’s battle to contain sprawl. The antidote to sprawl is density or, as some planners describe it, building up instead of out.

Bringing residents together into multifamily buildings allows the community to absorb population growth without having to incur the cost and inefficiency of stretching streets, sewers, water and other utility lines farther and farther into and beyond the suburbs to serve a relatively small number of people. By focusing residential development in compact areas where people can choose to work and shop near where they live, vehicular traffic and air pollution can be kept down. Not because anyone is forced into that lifestyle, but because the availability of appropriate housing makes it feasible for those who find it appealing.

Those benefits add up, especially when coupled with the ultimate boost in property tax revenues and the added street-level vitality that evolves in a downtown sprinkled with lofts, condos and apartments – or in a mixed-use neighborhood.

The program will expire in April unless the City Council renews it, so look for a public information effort this fall to assess whether it continues to be needed or has created such a thriving market that no further incentives are needed.

One thing is clear already. In another decade, thanks to this program, the city’s tax base will be millions of dollars higher, strengthening Spokane’s ability to provide social services, police and fire protection, library operations and other municipal functions. The decision to forgo 10 years of property taxes will stand out as a savvy investment then, and not just for the wealthy.