We were pleased to report last week that the city of Marquette’s Local Development Finance Authority entered into an agreement with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation to designate the city as a SmartZone.

The step is one in a series of steps needed to complete the SmartZone process here in Marquette. The Marquette City Commission must approve a designation agreement with the MEDC, as well, before the plan can be approved at the state level.

MEDC representative Roselyn Zator said for a story published by The Mining Journal, “Once that (designation agreement) is approved by the LDFA and the city, then that should come my way to the MEDC, and we package that with the TIF (Tax Increment Finance) plan, we give it one more look over to review it and approve it, and then we send it over to the treasurer for his approval.”

The TIF plan, which needs to be approved by the Michigan Department of Treasury, will allow the local authority to capture a portion of taxable property value increases after 2014 for the city’s SmartZone – up to $400,000 annually from the city’s millage, and 50 percent of both the state school millage and the school district millage.

Jobs creation in new and existing businesses is the goal here. The city, it seems to us, is well on the road to do-ing that.