Agenda - Economic Development Authority - 09/13/2012

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ANOKA COUNTY EDA, Q &A FROM EDA MEMBERS (AUGUST MEETING) 1. What is the process to opt out of the EDA powers agreement (if Ramsey decided to join). Would we be penalized in any way? If a city opts in to the economic development activities they are "in" for 5 years. At the 5 year point the city can opt out by resolution. There is no penalty as no additional dollars are levied. 2. Being this is a "Joint Powers" agreement, what "powers" is the City forfeiting to the County? There is not a joint powers agreement used. We request a resolution from the city council adding economic development activities as an eligible use for the HRA funds. 3. Similar to the previous question, what authority are we giving to the County. What would they be able to do now, that they couldn't do before? The Anoka County HRA has housing, redevelopment and studies related to ether of the two types of projects. This is defined in our special law. The special law was amended 5 years ago to give the county economic development powers. Cities have the option of opting in by resolution or foregoing the ability to use the funding for economic development. 4. If Ramsey joined, and for whatever reason the County decided to create a new EDA levy (similar to the HRA levy), could Ramsey opt out? By special law, Anoka County can't decide to create a new EDA levy. We are tied to the decision made by the exploratory committee. There will never be an Economic Development Levy at Anoka County. Again, the city can opt out of economic development activities once every 5 years. However it will not impact the levy as there isn't an EDA levy authorized by law. To sum it up, the real issue is what types of activities can be funded by the ACHRA. If you do nothing you still can undertake housing and redevelopment projects. If you opt in to the economic development activities you have expanded the types of projects that will benefit the city. The levy stays the same either way.