09/18/2003 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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• CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION SEPTEMBER 18, 2003 APPROVED 1 Mr. Davidson stated $.10 per square foot sounds like a small number, but it is a large 2 number for them. The limitation of a five-year TIF is a large penalty. He stated they could 3 get facilities with lower numbers elsewhere, but they want to come to Lino Lakes and 4 provide jobs. This company has a certain threshold they are unwilling to go beyond. This 5 would be the largest facility in the county and would produce taxes for more years than 6 the district. 7 8 Mr. Perstring stated they would be creating 63 jobs and this number would go up for 9 temporary jobs. These would be prime earner positions and they project adding another 10 15 people over 10 years. They are willing to certify that they will create four more jobs in 11 the future. 12 13 He stated the estimated property taxes generated for this project are $290,000. He 14 explained how the taxes are broken down. He stated because fiscal disparities and tax 15 base are removed, the figures don't work. Therefore, $.10 per square foot is a significant 16 amount for this type of business. 17 18 Mr. Steimen stated there is no "magic formula" to get to these numbers and that the City 19 is trying to minimize public dollars. He stated they are trying to achieve a workable 20 solution to get the job done. He stated it was a policy decision and that the Council 21 needed to decide what it will take to get this done. 22 23 Councilmember O'Donnell asked what the top three reasons for choosing this site in Lino 24 Lakes were. Mr. Davidson responded the proximity to the existing facility in Arden Hills 25 and the combination of the two separate facilities along with the subsidy can make their 26 business more efficient. He stated those were their main two reasons. 27 28 Councilmember Dahl questioned what besides TIF was bringing them to this site versus 29 other sites. Mr. Davidson stated cost is one component and if cost was the only 30 consideration, they would choose a different site. He stated even with the tax abatement, 31 they will be paying more than other locations, but the transportation savings and other 32 savings are bringing them to this site. They are willing to pay more because of the 33 reasons stated previously. 34 35 Economic Development Assistant Divine stated the development agreement and business 36 subsidy agreement are ready for the September 22, 2003 City Council meeting. 37 38 Councilmember O'Donnell stated he is having problems with the "but for" test and this is 39 difficult to determine without company financials. He stated since they are telling us $.10 40 per square foot is significant to them, it is difficult for the Council to assess that without 41 their financials. 42 43 Mayor Bergeson asked how this project was comparable to other City projects. Economic 44 Development Assistant Divine stated Ad Graphics was 130,000 square feet, which is 45 about half the size of this project. The total subsidy for that project was $800,000 in 1997 46 / 1998 over five years. 47