2019.01.23 CC Packet - Goal Setting Session

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Metropolitan Agencies affordable housing development, tax base revitalization, job growth and preservation, brownfield clean up and mixed -use, transit -friendly development, and redevelopment. Metro Cities strongly supports the continuation of this approach, which is widely accepted and utilized by local communities. Since its inception in 1995, the LCA program, administered by the Metropolitan Council, has generated billions of dollars of private and public investment, created thousands of jobs and added thousands of affordable housing units in the region. Metro Cities supports the ongoing monitoring of the LCA programs and any necessary statutory changes to ensure that the LCA program criteria are flexible and promote the participation of all participating communities, and to ensure that all metropolitan area cities are eligible to participate in the Livable Communities Demonstration Account (LCDA). Metro Cities supports increased funding and flexible eligibility requirements in the LCDA to assist communities with development that may not be exclusively market driven or market proven in the location, in order to support important development and redevelopment goals. Metro Cities supports the findings of a recent local -official working group that identified the need for the Metropolitan Council to expand its outreach to communities on the LCA programs and to continue efforts to ensure that LCA criteria are sufficiently flexible to meet the range of identified program objectives. Metro Cities supports the statutory goals and criteria established for the Livable Communities Act and opposes any changes to LCA programs that constrain flexibility around statutory goals, program requirements and criteria. Metro Cities opposes funding reductions to the Livable Communities Act programs and the transfer or use of these funds for purposes outside of the LCA program. Metro Cities supports statutory modifications in the LCDA to reflect the linkages among the goals, municipal objectives, and Met Council system objectives. Metro Cities supports the use of LCA funds for projects in transit improvement areas, as defined in statute, if funding levels for general LCA programs are adequate to meet program goals and the program remains accessible to participating communities. Use of interest earnings from LCA funds should be limited to covering administrative program costs. Remaining interest earnings should be considered part of LCA funds and used to fund grants from established LCA accounts per established funding criteria. 4-Q Density Metro Cities recognizes the need for a density policy, including minimum density requirements, that allows the Metropolitan Council to effectively plan for and deliver cost-efficient regional infrastructure and services. Regional density requirements must recognize that local decisions, needs and priorities vary, and that requirements must be sufficiently flexible to accommodate 2019 Legislative Policies 49