Agenda - Council - 05/12/1981 - Laserfiche WebLink

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,,-.......".................. .. -' - = - . -.. . NAIOP LEGISLATIVE REPORT NAIOP'S FIRST LEGISLATIVE SEMINAR HUGE SUCCESS l.....~~/' The House Local and Urban Affairs Committee rejected Min- nesota House File 22 by a vote of 14 - 13 on Wednesday, April 8, 1981. This action, essentially in support of NAIOP's position on Industrial Revenue Bond financing, followed by three days NAIOP's First Legislative Seminar which was held at the Capitol Holiday Inn on Friday, April 3. Some 52 members of the Upper Midwest Chapter met with 8 legislators for several hours during a late morning open exchange and, afterwards, at lunch. Legislative Committee Chairman, Jim Stuebner, re- ported that the seminar program will become the national NAIOP model for legislative interaction. As Larry Eastlund observed at our March seminar, the citizen can no longer rely only upon his party to represent his views in detail or his lobbyist to get the job done. In addition to both functions, the alert citizen must become involved in a grass roots effort to Teach his legislators. Many state and federal representatives do ;ot know how to vote on a given issue and welcome input from concerned Americans. In preparation for the noon panel, James Erickson, the Chap- ter's Minnesota Legislative Counsel, summarized the current status of the proposed bills affecting tax-exempt financing, tax increment financing and real estate taxes in general. He distributed a 48-page summary of all proposed bills pending before the following committees: Senate Local Government and Urban Affairs; House Local and Urban Affairs; House Select Committee on Bonding; Senate Government Opera- tions; Judiciary; House General Legislation; Senate Govern- ment Operations. Transcripts of all hearings held are included verbatim. The com- pendium provides excellent resource material for the NAIOP member who wants to know exactly what has happened in the past several months. Some extra copies are available at r. Jim Erickson's office. ~j (' '-.. PROGRAM COMMITTEE NEWS Many thanks to Bob Hoffman and Linda Fisher for their excellent presentations at our April 21 breakfast meeting. We are most fortunate to have them share their experiences, talents and insights with us. Those of you who heard the list of speakers of Ken Stensby's Comprehensive Office Park Course know' that this will be another first-class NAIOP Na- tional Seminar. As mentioned in our last newsletter, the Up- per Midwest Chapter will be host for the Comprehensive Office Park Course kickoff dinner to be held on Monday evening, May 18, with Gerald Rauenhorst as the keynote speaker. Upper Midwest Chapter NAIOP members who have registered for the Comprehensive Office Park course do not need to register for the evening dinner meeting or the break- fast meeting on May 19. HOwever, all other Upper Midwest Chapter members must register for the kickoff dinner as well as the breakfast meeting the following morning. ...... IRB FINANCING In spite of a personal and philo- sophical bias against tax-exempt financing, Rep. William Schreiber acknowledged the need for Minnesota to attract new industry and retain existing industry against the competition of neighboring states. Rep. Tim Sher- man spoke impassionately for IRB financing. His district at Winona must compete against Wisconsin just across the Mis- sissippi, and must at least match the tax-exempt financing available in LaCrosse. He will support a no change position. Minnesota need not add the elimination of tax-exempt finan- ing to the list of serious problems confronting business and in- dustry wishing to locate here. We cannot just talk about Minnesota's quality of life. We must support that benefit with economic advantages such as tax-exempt financing. TAX INCREMENT FINANCING Senator Marvin Hanson suppor- ted the tax increment device as the only way to overcome substantial problems relating to specific areas. His committee does believe that it's a misuse of the concept to apply it to large tracts of vacaneland. deing .... developed as single subdivisions. The current objective is to restrict such assistance to single sites upon which specific plans for development are known before formation of the tax increment district. In the face of Minnesota's pro- jected deficit, tax relief is out of the question. Therefore, Sen- ator Douglas Johnson summar- ized the attempt to eliminate the inequities that resulted from the old "limited market value" concept and the inbalance between residential and commercial taxes. At lunch, members were able to talk individually with the attending legislators while the new NAIOP film strip illus- trated the differences between the old industrial neighborhood and the new industrial and office park. - Jeff Coult, Secretary NAIOP Legislative Committee REAL ESTATE TAXES MAY 18 UPCOMING EVENTS NAIOP Comprehensive Course Minneapolis, Minnesota Financing Update Breakfast Meeting Half-Day Seminar "Ma~keting & Product Changes" "Is Minnesota Competitive?" Breakfast Meeting Office Market Update Breakfast Meeting (Topic Open) Breakfast Meeting Half-Day Seminar "Business Forecast for 1982" Land Availability Breakfast Meeting JUNE 16 JULY 21 AUG. 18 SEPT. 15 OCT. 20 NOV. 17 DEC. 15 - Dave Weir, Chairman NAIOP Program Committee