01-24-1990 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF NEW BRIGHTON, 803 - 5th AVENUE, N.W., NEW BRIGHTON, MINNESOTA 55112 • 633- ew righton January 16, 1990 Mr. Terry Schutten Executive Director Ramsey County 286 Court House 15 West Kellogg Blvd. Saint Paul, MN 55102 Dear Mr. Schutten Thank you for sharing a draft copy of your TIF Strategies report with New Brighton. The report provides a wealth of information about TIF activity in the County. It pulls together policy information into a convenient resource document. TIF is a complicated system for economic development, redevelopment, and providing housing in our community. Because of that complexity, it merits monitoring and evaluation. The results of TIF actions have an important effect on all the residents and jurisdictions within Ramsey County. The report raised important questions about the use of TIF. These include the degree of involvement of the County government and school districts in TIF projects, the costs involved in administration of TIF programs, and how to pay for them, the need for greater and more effective communication between the agencies creating TIF districts and the County, and how large a portion of a city's or the County's tax base should be within a TIF district. These questions deserve inter - agency /jurisdictional discussion. Some aspects of the draft strategy are, however, troubling from a City perspective. The report ignores the central goals behind the existence of TIF and infers that all of the taxable value generated within TIF districts would have occurred without the use of TIF. The proposed County TIF objectives and recommended strategies amount to a prescription for diminished economic growth and an end to revitalization of older areas of the County. This is shortsighted public policy. The objective of increased County involvement in TIF is desirable if it means improved communication. The County would thereby take some level of responsibility for the physical and economic development of the County. This objective can be achieved now without any changes to the already complicated TIF laws. Counties have the right to review and comment on each TIF project, although it is not even done in a cursory manner today. Communication from cities about overall development plans and individual projects would be worthwhile and could be easily done. The County's stated objectives of managing growth in the use of TIF and limiting the impact of TIF on the County's tax base presumes use of TIF Page 96