Public commenter urges commissioners to block TIF capture of 95-mill school revenues, cites pension and funding concerns

During the Aug. 5 meeting, Yellowstone County resident Kevin Nelson addressed the commissioners during public comment and urged them to prevent tax-increment finance districts from capturing revenue he said is constitutionally earmarked for public retirement and education.
Nelson began by citing the Montana Constitution and public retirement system protections, saying, "public retirement system assets including income and actual required contributions shall not be diverted," and asserting that capturing incremental mills in TIF districts diverts funds he believes belong to retirement systems.
He also raised the 95-mill school funding statutes, saying that revenue must be used for public education and property tax reduction and that capture of those mills in TIF districts conflicts with that statutory obligation. Nelson cited a past state Supreme Court opinion and said the constitutionally mandated school-equalization money must be used for education. He characterized prior state action as having shifted funds and said the result has been pressure on general taxpayers and on retirement funding; he cited a figure, saying $26,000,000 had been infused into a sheriff's retirement fund from general taxpayer dollars in a prior instance.
Nelson asked the commissioners to fulfill what he described as their constitutional obligation to protect those funds and suggested the county examine whether TIF districts should be allowed to capture the 95-mill revenue. The clerk and board recorded the comment as part of the public comment period; the meeting record shows no formal response from the board or subsequent action on Nelson's claims during the session.
Because Nelson framed his remarks as a request and legal interpretation rather than as a staff presentation, the board took no immediate action on the matter at the meeting.