The Spokane County Board of County Commissioners on Nov. 17 approved amendments to the Liberty Lake tax increment financing (TIF) district that extend its termination date, increase the estimated public improvement costs and add permanent affordable housing as an eligible public improvement.

Roy Kogan of Kogan Edwards told the board the amendments would extend the Liberty Lake TIF from Dec. 31, 2025, to July 1, 2034, increase total estimated public improvement costs from $20 million to $30 million and explicitly expand the definition of allowable public improvements to include permanent affordable housing, consistent with chapter 38.98 RCW.

Kogan reported that partner taxing districts had endorsed the changes: the Spokane County Library District adopted a resolution pledging support and a commitment that Kogan summarized as an increased assessed-value commitment (noted in the staff presentation as an amount that equated to roughly $5,800 per year in the library district's calculations), Spokane Fire Protection District committed $300,000 per year, and the City of Liberty Lake committed $500,000 per year. Kogan said each jurisdiction had executed restated internal tax-allocation agreements.

A county representative said the county's contribution would decline under the amendments from about $460,000 in the prior arrangement to $200,000 annually for the nine-year extended term, subject to annual notice to the county treasurer. Commissioners praised the interjurisdictional work that produced the agreement and voted unanimously to approve the draft resolution authorizing those amendments.

What's next: staff will finalize the restated tax allocation agreement documents and file the resolution elements required to implement the amended TIF; commissioners did not record any amendments to the approved resolution in the hearing.