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Item No: 04 Meeting Date: August 1, 2016 Type of Business: Work Session Administrator Review: ____ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Brian Beeman, Business Development Coordinator Item Title/Subject: EDA Levy Introduction: Mounds View is situated in a highly desirable location along I -35W with great access to the Twin Cities and surrounding suburban cities. It is also highly desirable for its school district. However, Mounds View is limited in land availability. This creates a challenge for businesses needing to expand and/or locate to Mounds View. A similar situation can be seen with residential housing as almost all of the lots have been built upon and much of the housing stock is aging with v ery few residential lots available to build new housing. In order to continue to improve upon and provide opportunities for growth in the form of newer buildings, better aesthetics, an increase in property tax values, and an overall better quality of life in the City of Mounds View, land will need to be purchased, older buildings need to be demolished, soils need to be remediated, and the parcels need to be assembled and marketed in such a way that it is attractive to private developers. The City of Mounds View has had several opportunities in the past to purchase dilapidated buildings and distressed properties. However, funds have been limited or nonexistent and many opportunities have been lost. While there currently exists several opportunities for redevelopment, redevelopment will not occur or is highly unlikely to occur without funds to purchase and package parcels together. Other issues with the lack of funding are explained in the discussion section of this staff report. Minn. Stat. 469.107 authorizes a city, at the request of the EDA, to levy a tax for the benefit of the EDA. The tax must be not more than 0.01813 percent of estimated market value. The amount levied must be paid by the city treasurer to the treasurer of the authority, to be spent by the authority. Statute does not expressly limit the proceeds to any particular use, but the implication is that they may be used for any activity an EDA is authorized to carry out under the EDA Act. Those uses include any and all housing and redevelopment activities permitted via the HRA Act . As well as the broader economic development activities permitted in Chapter 469. Discussion: In order to address several economic development issues, the City is considering an EDA levy as a mechanism to provide much needed funding in support of its program goals. On July 15, 2016 , the EDC discussed the possibility of establishing an EDA levy. As a result, the EDC believes having a source of funds dedicated towards economic development would be beneficial and is recommending that the Council review and consider an EDA levy for 2017. Summary of Mounds View Program Goals Being Proposed : Specifically, this program will provide the resources necessary to purchase land, demo buildings and package parcels as redevelopment projects that, when completed, will add to the tax valuation and