Agenda - Council - 02/10/2009 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

to get projects off the ground, so a part of him says that this pool of money is wonderful to have. He asked if the County was also putting an equity injection into this fund. Mr. Ehlers stated that perhaps he made this sound too complex inhis original explanation. He stated "that the County Board of Trustees simply wants to refInance to save money. He stated that if Ram~ey wants to hang onto the cash, the County Board of Trustees will have to make a decision on whether to raise rents or use the County HRA levy" every year to subsidize the project. Councilmember Elyig reiterated his question about whether" the Co~tY was also putting cash into this project. " Ms. Skepper stated that the funds used are County HRA funds, but noted that typically, they have worked with the City on how they should be used. She stated that the County would like to ~ork with the City; but if they wanted, they could just take all the money, because it is realty the County HRA buying down the debt. Councilmember Elvig stated that he realizes refInancing will bring the costs down and that energy costs are higher, but feels there shoUld be a cushion in place. He stated that he would like to see thest( funds "pooled" in Ramsey's name so they can eventually come back to the City. He explained that it would be like sharing profIts and he would like the City to be able to do HRA projects. Ms. Skepper stated that 'some cities have built up large balances, which makes it look like the . " County is not pushing HRA projects. She state~ that they are. trying to fInd ways. to create projects or buy down debt, because they do not want it to look like they are hoarding money. Councilmember Elvig reiterated that he would like the funds to stay pooled in Ramsey's name. Chair Strommen stated that she agreed that it should not look like anyone'is hoarding money. She'stated she would like to know if there are other projects in the works in Ramsey, so if the City uses this money to pay down this debt, it may put off other projects that the City is working on. Assistant Community Development Director/HRA Executive Director Frolik stated that there are no current projects she can think of and noted that there would still be $400,000 allocated from the County and there are also still City HRA funds available. Mr. Ruff stated that [mancially, there are more benefIts to buying down the debt right now. Councilmember Elvig stated that if there was something the City was working on right now, he would be hard pressed to move forward with this plan. Chair Strommen stated that she agreed, but since nothing is ready to go, she can support this project. Finance Committee / March 25, 2008 Page 3 of5 -202-