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Item No: 04 Meeting Date: January 4, 2016 Type of Business: Work Session City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Mounds View Economic Development Authority From: Brian Beeman, Business Development Coordinator Item Title/Subject: Review Revisions to the Business Subsidy Policy Introduction: At its November 20, 2015, meeting, the Economic Development Commission (EDC) reviewed the Business Subsidy policy and is making the recommendation that the Economic Development Authority (EDA) consider approving the proposed amendments. Since any changes to the Business Subsidy policy requires a Public Hearing by the Council/EDA per State Statute, staff is requesting that the Council review the policy first at a Council work session then hold the Public Hearing on January 24, 2016 in conjunction with the EDA to consider adopting a resolution accepting the amended policy. Background: As staff was reviewing the fee schedule and policies for 2016 in relation to Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and Tax Abatements, it became apparent that the business subsidy and incentive policies were outdated and in need of attention. As a result, staff is in the process of reviewing each of the City’s financial incentive policies and will provide a recommended draft of each policy to the EDA for review once the EDC has had a chance to review and recommend each policy. Discussion: The City of Mounds View’s Business Subsidy Policy was last updated May 2003. As staff was reviewing the policy, it became apparent that some of the language in the policy is in need of updating due to statutory changes and to clarify language that often causes confusion in agreements. Below is a summary of the changes.  Added a title page and table of contents. Included the dates of adoption and which authority adopted the policy. This saves staff time from sorting through old sets of minutes and packets to determine who and when the policy was last amended.  Throughout the document, deleted confusing and wordy language with simple clarifying language.  When possible referred to the statute number instead of writing out the statutory language. This way the policy does not have to change each time there is a change in statute. I. Changed Tax Rebate Financing back to original statutory name of Tax Abatement II. Added the definition of a “Business Subsidy” per current statue. Since the statutory criteria of a Public Hearing changed, it was easier to spell out the instances where a Public Hearing would not be required rather than when it would be required. III. Added additional instances of public purpose objectives and removed any reference to housing.