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only those geographic areas which haw bsen classified as n0nagri~ultural land for tax purposes for st least 15 years. A renewal plan should be sufficiently detailed so that prospective developers understand what is expected of them and could sutm~it proposals. Expenditures wc~ld be permitted only if oonsistent with the plan. 6. Bequire regional guidelines--~he Metropolitan (k~ncil, other regional development agencies in ~ state amd the State Plar~irg Agency (far parts of the state without regional pla~ir~ bodies) should be required to help city governments develop renewal plans that a~)id wasting money t~h unnecessary inter-municipal bidding but recognize that some c~npetition amorg cities is healthy. City governments today are forced to decide c~ assistance with virtually no input c~ whether their actions are consistent--or in oonflict--with are~;ide land use plans. The Metropolitan (k)uncil ar~ other agencies should not be given power to decide whether assistanoe should be granted. That power should oontinu~ to reside at the level of city goverr~ent. Instead regiorknl and state agencies oould develop suggested guidelines for cities to follow. 7. Make total assistar~e explicit for each project--At the time a city government makes its initial oc~mi~ent of public assistance, whether through the assis~ fund or tax-increment, e~.n though th~ total amount of co,~tments are mot yet known, the city should be required to make public estimates of the total value, in current dollars, of ail assistance, direct and indirect, from federal, state ar~ local sources oombined, including the value of tax deductions and credits for each publicly-assisted develol~nent. Such estimates can be prepared f~r different scenarios of what the total package might look like. 8. Separate '~overhead',' expenses--Scme of the expenses would be servioes provided lmy city government staff ar~ c(x~ultants. City officials should be required to _make separate allocations for such ':overhead, ': so that a~nunts for that purpose always are cl~rly kn(~rn. O~=.rhead expenses wculd be chargeable to the redevelopment fur~ or to tax-increment accounts along with other expenses of a renewal project, such as infrastructure oonstruction or financial assis~ to a developer. }bwever, as noted earlier, city governments should not be allowed to charge salaries of city employees to tax-increment acoounts. 9. Require ~eriodic audits ar~ periodic review--The Legislature should require periodic rar~cm audits of city real estate assistance funds and of tax-incre_me__-nt districts, Goverirg a detailed analysis of receipts arz] exper~itures. The Legislature al~.o should require periodic review of real estate assistance projects to oc~pare results to date ar~ the outlook for the future, measured against projects', original objectives. Part of periodic review should be re__no~,~-r~lations to the Legislature on the r~--~ for state dollars in rede%~lcpment funds in oomir~3 years. Regional ager~ies such as the Metropolitan Council oould be instructed to make such reco~z~_ r~tations. 10. Allow use of oonde~natic~ even if financial assistance is not provided--State law should clarify the right of any city to use its l~wer of condition in carr~i~ out a previously-adopted renewal plan, but without an acoc~t~mying requirement that a city al~o provide financial h~lp. Oa~emnation authority should be used sparingly, because it represents the public'.s taking of private property when the pri~ate o~a~er does not want to sell. It should be used primarily to help the private developer acquire hold-out paroels.