Medical Lake area gets boost

Spokane County commissioners decided Tuesday to encourage industrial growth near Medical Lake by redirecting tax dollars to pay for sewers, roads and other improvements in the area.

The decision, approved unanimously, affects about 2,000 acres and dozens of property owners around Interstate 90 from the Aero Road interchange (Exit 272) to Spotted Road.

The commissioners’ decision creates a tax-increment finance area.

It will allow, over 20 years, as much as $30 million in property taxes from within the boundary – which would otherwise be directed to the county, and library and fire districts – to be earmarked for infrastructure.

The ability to pay for roads, sewers and other improvements is likely to attract companies that will create quality jobs, said Dick Edwards, who owns land within the new district.

The land is zoned for light industrial and commercial growth.

Tax-increment financing works like this: As property values within the boundary increase, especially as development occurs, 75 percent of the extra tax dollars generated by the rise in values would be used to pay for infrastructure.

Tax districts continue getting the taxes on the original value plus 25 percent of the increased value. Taxes for schools are not affected. All taxes start flowing to the tax districts once the infrastructure is paid off.

The decision affects three taxing authorities: Spokane County, Spokane County Fire District No. 3 and the Spokane County Library District.