Information on what makes the Billings-area economy tick is molded into plans

Armed with reams of data on what makes the Billings-area economy tick, community leaders gathered Wednesday to plan how to make the best use of that information.

By the end of the four-hour forum, participants had developed proposals aimed at promoting tax reform, building a community vision and developing Billings into a "learning community."

By ED KEMMICK
Of The Gazette Staff

http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2004/06/24/build/local/40-mt-move.inc

They also seemed to agree that an important goal was bringing more young people into the process. Jim Duncan, president of the Deaconess Billings Clinic Foundation, said the younger generation might have the impression that "a bunch of grumpy 50-year-olds are telling us what to do with our community."

The gathering in the Mansfield Health Education Center at St. Vincent Healthcare was a follow-up to a May 20 forum at which Larry Swanson, associate director of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West, summarized his research and conclusions on the condition of the Montana economy.

His main theme is that the state’s seven urban centers – Billings, Missoula, Bozeman, Helena, Butte, Great Falls and Kalispell – are relatively prosperous, unlike the state as a whole, and that those cities need to capitalize on their strengths while the boom lasts.

The forums in Billings were part of Montana on the Move, a project designed to help Montana communities prosper economically and culturally. Montana on the Move is sponsored by the Center for the Rocky Mountain West and the Public Policy Research Institute, both in Missoula, and the Foundation for Community Vitality, in Billings.

The forum on Wednesday attracted about 55 community leaders – educators, developers, engineers, public officials, business people and representatives of the health industry and arts organizations.

At the earlier forum in May, participants narrowed down their areas of principal concern to the three topics that were worked on Wednesday.

Montana on the Move http://ci.billings.mt.us/move.php

The group that examined tax reform decided a major problem was that revenue growth for the city and county hasn’t reflected economic growth in recent years, mainly because of legislative changes to the taxable valuation of property.

The group decided that Montana cities should seek "customized strategies," the most-talked-about one being legislative authority to seek voter approval of local-option sales taxes. Big Sky Economic Development Authority Director Joe McClure, the spokesman for the taxation group, said some people were concerned that local sales taxes would kill the possibility of enacting a statewide sales tax, but in the end the group agreed that local governments needed to have that flexibility.

The group also recommended that the state’s entire tax structure be reviewed and compared with those of other states, with the results of the study presented to the public in a major educational campaign.

Duncan, a spokesman for the group looking at "community vision," said members of the group have agreed to put together a consortium that will market Billings internally and externally. They also pledged to work on getting more city and county officials involved in the Montana on the Move process, and recommended coordinating ballot issues regarding the funding of public projects.

That group also suggested the possibility of hiring a consultant to coordinate all those efforts. Duncan said funding for the position could come from Celebrate Billings, a group of local businesses and organizations working to shape Billings’ future.

John Cech, dean of the College of Technology at MSU-Billings, spoke for the group looking at building a "learning community" in Billings. One of the group’s key recommendations was to forge stronger connections between employers and schools to make sure people are being trained for jobs that will help the local economy.

One small, concrete step the group recommended was developing a packet introducing newcomers to Billings to the full range of public and private educational opportunities in Billings, and then having them distributed by real-estate agents.

In addition to the three main groups, a small one looked at how best to communicate the Montana on the Move message to people in Billings and around Eastern Montana and northern Wyoming.

Dan Kemmis, director of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West, said the goal of Montana on the Move is to have representatives from all seven urban centers gather for a forum this fall, and to have a statewide economic and community-development plan in place by November.

Kemmis said they want to have the plan well established before the next session of the Legislature, which convenes in January. He said there are grounds for believing that the Legislature might be willing to listen to the cities this session.

"There’s a broader and deeper consensus in the communities across Montana that we need to take a different approach," Kemmis said.

If those communities can stand together and make it clear that what they are seeking is pragmatic and bipartisan, he said, there is a good chance they will get a favorable reception in Helena.

Ed Kemmick can be reached at 657-1293 or ekemmick@billings gazette.com