Urban3 presented a geo‑accounting analysis to the Rapid City Legal & Finance Committee on Dec. 10 that maps where tax revenue and infrastructure costs fall across the city and outlines policy tools to improve fiscal outcomes.

Heather Worthington, lead presenter from Urban3, described how the firm correlates financial data and land‑use patterns to calculate value and revenue per acre. She highlighted central downtown parcels such as the Hotel Alex Johnson and Prairie’s Edge as among the city’s most productive parcels per acre. By contrast, big‑box retail sites (Walmart, Menards, Fleet Farm) produce substantially lower revenue per acre because they occupy large lots with extensive parking and comparatively low density.

Worthington told the committee Rapid City’s taxable value is highly concentrated: in her model, downtown parcels are dramatically more productive per acre than much of the city and county land area, and Rapid City’s taxable value per area is roughly 28 times greater than the county overall. Urban3’s spatialized fiscal audit identified an estimated net shortfall of about $112 million when current upkeep needs and life‑cycle infrastructure costs are compared to current revenue streams.

The presentation included a TIF (tax increment financing) analysis showing that some TIF districts are net positive while others (e.g., portions of Homestead and Red Rock Meadows) are net negative. Worthington recommended rebalancing the city’s development portfolio to favor higher‑density and mixed‑use development, revisiting parking and open‑space requirements that can hamper density, and using a new "development evaluator" (municipal pro forma) to assess whether proposed projects will financially "pencil out" for the city, not only the developer.

Worthington and staff pointed to the Uptown Mall site (61 acres) as a major opportunity: in many modeled scenarios, higher‑density residential or mixed‑use redevelopment of that site would generate far greater revenue per acre than continuing low‑density or large‑parking uses. She emphasized that infrastructure like roads and pipes is a long‑term liability — "infrastructure is forever" — and that building around existing pipes and roads tends to be more fiscally efficient than continually expanding the city’s geographic footprint.

Council members praised the quality and clarity of the visualizations. Several members asked for comparables; Worthington said Rapid City sits "in the middle of the pack" among U.S. cities of similar size and offered Springfield, Missouri, and Boulder as potential comparators for further data sharing. Community Development said it will bring ordinance amendments and the development‑evaluator tool back to council for consideration.

The committee moved to acknowledge the presentation.