HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-18-26 Public Comment - K. Kircher - Public Comment in Support of Opportunity Zone Nomination --- Census Tract 6From:Kim Kircher
To:Bozeman Public Comment
Subject:[EXTERNAL]Public Comment in Support of Opportunity Zone Nomination — Census Tract 6
Date:Thursday, June 18, 2026 6:50:34 PM
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Dear Members of the Bozeman City Commission,
I strongly support the City's proposal to nominate Gallatin County Census Tract 6 for Opportunity Zone 2.0
designation and to urge the Commission to authorize the City Manager to submit this application to the Montana
Department of Commerce.
Tract 6 is the right geography for this designation. It sits at the convergence of the Northeast, Midtown, and Pole
Yard Urban Renewal Districts, areas where significant public investment through TIF has laid the groundwork for
private redevelopment but where that private capital has been slower to materialize. The overlay of OZ incentives,
TIF, LIHTC, and New Markets Tax Credits creates a genuinely differentiated capital stack — one capable of
making workforce housing and mixed-use infill projects financially viable at a scale Bozeman needs.
The workforce housing problem in Bozeman is not a planning problem. The plans are good. It is a capital problem.
The teachers, healthcare workers, tradespeople, and hospitality employees who sustain this economy cannot afford
to live near their jobs, and the projects that could house them cannot clear the return thresholds required by
conventional capital at current costs. Opportunity Zone designation provides a structurally different incentive — one
that can change the math on projects that the market would otherwise leave undone.
We encourage the Commission to move forward with this nomination and to do so with urgency. The designation
process is competitive, the timeline is short, and the upside for Bozeman is material.
Thank you for the Commission's leadership on this issue.
Cordially,
Kim Kircher