CPIF for Public Facility Projects Serving Economic Development
information released by Chelan County
The Board of Chelan County Commissioners has approved the Cascade Public Infrastructure Fund (CPIF), a grant program for public facility projects serving economic development. The grant program does not impose a new tax on Chelan County citizens, but instead will be funded by existing revenues from the sales and use tax for public facilities in rural counties (Rural Counties Tax) which is a 0.09 percent remittance on the state’s sales tax.
Over the next three years, the CPIF plans to invest nearly $2.5 million into economic development projects in Chelan County. To receive a CPIF grant, the applicant must be a public entity and the public facility project must meet the definitions described in RCW 82.14.370. Furthermore, the project must be listed or referenced in the economic development element of the Chelan County Comprehensive Plan, or the comprehensive plan of a city or town located within the county.
“The CPIF grant program will be a critical resource in local economic development to grow the private sector in order to incentivize and attract new businesses to Chelan County, while at the same retain and expand current businesses,” said Blake Baldwin, Director of Economic Development for Chelan County. “The county is eager to make investments that will strengthen our economy and create family wage jobs and opportunities available to county residents.”
The Chelan County Board of Commissioners will assemble the CPIF Advisory Committee to help guide and inform the decision making process for these public investments. The committee will consist of eleven members and the county will begin extending invitations to desired participants including representatives from city governments in Chelan County, community councils, the Hispanic Business Council, and the Chelan Douglas Regional Port Authority. The committee will review, score, and rank all applications and submit their recommendations to the Chelan County Board of Commissioners for final decision making.
“We look forward to bringing our local government and community partners together to advise and inform the commission’s CPIF investments in Chelan County,” said Chelan County Commissioner Kevin Overbay. “The county plans to work with our public sector partners to prioritize investments that will increase county revenues, in turn helping to ease the tax burden to county citizens.”
Chelan County will be accepting CPIF grant applications from March 29th to May 7th, 2021 and awards will be announced in early June 2021. Applications will be available at www.co.chelan.wa.us.
