Jordan,
Can't answer this question without asking finance, which I will be glad to
do. But another way to look at it is this: If the Target store hadn't been
built, Opus probably would have built an office tower there. That means that
this TIF district (which is composed of the Target headquarters, Target
Store and Piper Jaffrey building) would have generated $7.7 million a year
into the general fund. I was mystified by Thurber's understanding of how TIF
districts work. This funds will be tied up for 20-25 years. The life of the
TIF district. The Target store was basically the mayor's "pet project". The
store is configured so that it can be turned into office space in case the
store isn't successful. Once again the possibility exists for us to be
subsidizing office space with TIF dollars. This combined with an out-of-line
subsidy and the destruction of viable intersting businesses on the block, is
why I led the charge against voting for this project. Unfortunately we
couldn't get to seven votes on this issue. The irony is that Target wasn't
originally interested in building a store there. But with such a sweet deal
offered up by the Mayor, they would have been fools not to do it.
Lisa McDonald
Tenth Ward Council member
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jordan S. Kushner [SMTP:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Thursday, February 08, 2001 9:09 PM
> To: List Manager; Mpls list
> Subject: Re: [Mpls] Kathy Thurber's withdrawal letter to 9th Ward DFL
> delegates
>
> Kathy Thurber's assertion that Tax Increment Financing for large downtown
> commercial development funds neighborhoods deserves to be evaluated on its
> merits.
> Here is the test: News accounts state that the downtown Target project is
> receiving $127 million in TIF subsidies. Can someone with knowledge of
> the local tax structure please provide a liberal estimate of how many
> years it will take for the downtown Target store to pay back $127 million
> in local taxes?
>
> Jordan Kushner
> Ward 8, Powderhorn
>
>
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