EDSR 06-12-1995 - Laserfiche WebLink

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organizations, property owners, and citizens at large. Two other public workshops are planned June 29 and July 20. Both workshops will • begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Training Room of the Elk River City Hall. All in all, the progress made to date is considered satisfactory. Hoisington's strong suit is that of consensus building and design alternatives. While funding this project remains a major consideration, many opportunities exist to discover this great asset that has been neglected for so long. 3. Prioritization of TIF Expenditures from Districts No. ;1 and No. 3 and Former District No. 4 A chilling reality check for Minnesota cities occurred in early February when legislation was introduced by various state representatives to sharply curtail the continued use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) as a economic development tool throughout the state. The most extreme element of the proposed legislation would have limited the use of tax increments from respective districts to only pay for bond or contractual obligations already in existence (i.e., executed before January 15, 1995). In other words, the proposed legislation would have prohibited the use of tax increments for new projects. Given the retroactive intent of this proposed legislation, the City of Elk River and other communities likely could not have met the tests to ensure that development agreements and other contractual obligations were in place so as to conform with the legislation. Lacking these contractual obligations would have resulted in the turning back of available funds in TIF Districts No. 1 and No. 3 and No. 4. Thankfully, TIF legislation adopted in St. Paul did not include the previously introduced extreme provisions. No assurances, however, are made for future legislative sessions. For that reason, it may be a prudent exercise for various elected and appointed leaders to consider prioritizing upcoming expenditures relating to TIF funds from Districts No. 1, No. 3, and No. 4. Certainly the list of potential uses will exceed the availability of TIF funds. That reason should not diminish the value of attempting to prioritize the TIF funds. Assistant City Administrator Lori Johnson has prepared a summary of TI.F funds in Districts No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4. That information is included in the workshop agenda packet. In the past, expenditure of TIF funds from Districts No. 1 and No. 3 have been relatively fluid. Expenditures for which TIF Plan amendments have been approved include major purchases of park property and other non-revenue