Agenda - Council - 08/28/2007 - Laserfiche WebLink

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C4se.,o ANOKA COUNTY HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (ACHRA) UPDATE By: Sean M. Sullivan, Economic Development Coordinator Background: On July 31 st the City Council held a work session to discuss the expanded powers of the ACHRA. The ACHRA now has the powers of an EDA and is able to participate in economic development projects. Karen Skepper, from the County Community Development Department, outlined the process that the county went through to expand the ACHRA's powers and explained why the powers where expanded. The results ofa study conducted by Springsted identified gaps in the economic development programs of some city's and townships throughout Anoka County. Items identified in the Gap analysis included: 1. Ability to buy property with eminent domain has changed. 2. Limited financial resources dedicated to Economic Development. 3. Lack of staff dedicated to ED activities that have expertise and knowledge of ED tools. 4. Organization structure for sharing information. 5. Coordinated approach to improving the "image" of Anoka County. 6. Feasibility study of fiber optics infrastructure. 7. Availability of up to date demographic data and projections. 8. Central point of contact for businesses considering locating in Anoka County. 9. Ability to provide economic development services to communities that currently don't have them. In looking at the identified gaps it appears as if Ramsey is well positioned compared to some other cities located in Anoka County. Items numbered 4,5, and 8 were those that AnoKa Partners was trying to address through the website and Mr. Piggott's work. All of the other items aside from the Fiber Optics are currently being done by the Ramsey EDA. During the Work Session, the City Council expressed concern about the additional tax burden to residents and businesses as well as the duplication of services. Council also asked Anoka County to provide the current levy information under the current HRA levy and to show what the impacts would be for businesses and residents under the new format. The City Council also questioned whether the dollars levied under the EDA format would be kept within Ramsey like the 'current County HRA policy dictates. Karen Skepper has provided the City information regarding the current HRA levy levels and the potential increases that the County EDA levy would create. The Payable 2007 taxable Market Value for the ACHRA was $29,567,533,100. The Maximum HRA Levy is $4,257,724 and the HRA Levy currently certified is $1,163,738 which is well short of the maximum. By adding the EDA powers to the HRA the maximum levy would grow to $5,360,593. It is important to note that these large levy numbers are spread over all of the participating communities and are not just in Ramsey. The proposed ACHRA budget for 2008 includes $75,000 for economic development activities which would be spread -233-