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TO: Lake Elmo Mayor, City Council, Staff and Planning Commission <br />( ?ROM: Councilman Todd Williams <br />SUBJECT: Proposed Economic Development Board <br />Now that I have had a chance to consider some of the ramifications of <br />empowering the proposed Economic Development Board, I have several <br />concerns which need to be satisfied and questions which need to be <br />answered before I will support it. These are all legitimate concerns and <br />questions which should be resolved for protection of the best interests <br />of Lake Elmo. <br />very likely others of you may have questions which should also be answered <br />before we proceed in any particular direction. It seems highly unlikely <br />that any one person, be it any of us, can think of all the pros and <br />cons of a proposal such as the Economic Development Board. I encourage <br />all of us to examine this proposal critically and to suggest possible <br />refinements. I hope we can all maintain open minds as we struggle to come <br />to some consensus. <br />A. The proposal as submitted implies that the "business/banking <br />professionals" are somehow "experts" whose opinion should be taken as <br />gospel. However, while they may have valuable insights into the local <br />business climate, I question how they can be considered "experts" in the <br />area of overall community planning. If the Council buys into this Board <br />the idea that the appointees are "experts", then the Council might have a <br />difficult time justifying not following their recommendations, no matter <br />what these recommendations might be. I am not in favor of the Council's <br />putting itself in that position. Rather, the "business/banking <br />professionals" should be considered as representing one of the many <br />"special interest groups" (in the literal sense), with a relatively narrow <br />focus. Their advice should be valued and given the same credence as the <br />advice of any other "special interest group": no more or less. <br />The Council alone has the job of integrating and balancing all the wishes <br />of the various groups in the City for the overall good. If this Board is <br />established, it should be structured as being advisory only, with no <br />decision -making power and no spending authority. All such authority must <br />remain in the hands of the duly -elected City Council. <br />B. The primary, expressed rationale for this development board, and for <br />more commercial development in general, is the fear that Lake Elmo's tax <br />rate will rise too high, and so we need more tax base to avoid higher <br />taxes in the future. I have a difficult time accepting this rationale at <br />this time for the following reasons: <br />1. Lake Elmo's City tax rate is now and has been for at least the last ten <br />years well below that of cities like Oakdale, Woodbury and Stillwater, <br />which have far larger "tax bases" than Lake Elmo. Therefore, merely <br />having a larger tax base is no guarantee of lower taxes. And, there should <br />be no concern about our current tax rate. <br />2..It is possible that the overall share of Lake Elmo's budget which is <br />covered by the local tax levy will increase in the next couple of years <br />because of State tax policies. However, it is not at all clear that Lake <br />Elmo's overall tax rate will climb above those of those same sister <br />cities. According to news reports ALL cities will see an increase in their <br />