Below is the text of the remarks made today at a news conference held by Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton and Council President Jackie Cherryhomes to address the current State tax bill that endangers the funding for City initiatives such as the Neighborhood Revitalization Program (NRP) and affordable housing. The news conference was held at 2900 E. 25th Street in the Seward Neighborhood in the front yard of a home that was restored through funds from the Seward NRP program. Council Member Joan Campbell, who represents the Second Ward, also joined the Mayor and Council President. Ann Freeman Communications Director Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton (612) 673-2156 Tax Bill News Conference June 27,2001 MAYOR SHARON SAYLES BELTON Good morning. Joining me today are City Council President Jackie Cherryhomes, Council Member Joan Campbell, citizens and leaders from our Neighborhood Revitalization Program. We are here today because of a looming crisis. The legislature is in its final hours of negotiations on the 2001 Tax Bill. While we applaud the efforts of Governor Ventura and the state legislature to protect taxpayers' interests and we appreciate the leadership of Senator Larry Pogemiller, the Senate Tax Committee Chair from Minneapolis, and legislators from throughout Minnesota who understand the need to address tax reform while also preserving critical public investment tools, we are gravely concerned about the possibility of the elimination of the use of these investments tools citywide, and in particular with our Neighborhood Revitalization Program. The City of Minneapolis supports tax reform. City officials have been burning the midnight oil, working with Senator Pogemiller and others to move the tax bill forward while preserving actions that would continue state support for community development investments. The reason that Minneapolis works is that we make wise investments in our city. State support for local development financing tools has been essential to build strong neighborhoods and to keep people in the city. These local financing tools, called tax increment financing or (TIF) make it possible for Minneapolis and cities all over Minnesota to invest in affordable housing, neighborhood commercial development, polluted lands cleanup, jobs development and blight removal. Our Neighborhood Revitalization Program, which has become a model across the country, depends on TIF to fund citizen-driven revitalization, resulting in better housing, schools, parks and neighborhoods throughout Minneapolis. Let me give you just one example. This house was built in 1988. The Seward neighborhood is filled with such homes. In fact, over 40% of the homes in Minneapolis were built before 1940. Today, this house stands in beautiful condition because of the loving preservation and rehabilitation by the owners, Mark and Susan Peterson. In fact, it was on the 2000 Minneapolis Home tour. The Petersons rehabilitated this home using a $5,000 loan and a matching grant from the Seward NRP program. In 1993, the citizen-led Seward NRP program decided to put $1.8 million of their NRP funds toward loans and/or matching grants to homeowners to fix up their aging properties. Since then, 15% of the properties in Seward have been revitalized using the $1.8 million from the Seward NRP and $7.1 million in additional investments by homeowners spurred by this NRP opportunity. This investment opportunity for residents to significantly improve their aging, lovely neighborhood would not have existed without NRP. Future similar opportunities will be lost if the Tax Bill, as it stands, becomes law. The Minnesota Poll in this week's Star Tribune confirmed that affordable housing and livable communities are at the top of citizen concerns. We have heard the public and we agree. Public financing tools help local elected officials all across Minnesota meet community expectations for revitalization and renewal. As we make needed public investments to revitalize our communities, we must remain committed to doing so in an efficient and effective manner. Local officials throughout the state are prepared to make appropriate use of development resources, and to be held accountable for our decisions. COUNCIL PRESIDENT JACKIE CHERRYHOMES Should the Tax Bill severely limit our use of TIF, the city of Minneapolis will work tirelessly to find alternative solutions to continue our community investment efforts. The future strength of our community depends on it. We are in the final hours of the Special Session. Time is running out. If the Tax Bill, as it currently stands, becomes law, the impact on the ability of the City of Minneapolis to make critical community investments will be devastating. The situation is dire. Let me tell you about some of the ways TIF is used in community development. In Minneapolis, TIF investments have: * Converted polluted railroad yards in Seward, North Washington and Southeast into modern industrial parks, employing thousands of people in decent, good-paying jobs. * Transformed what was once a waste dump into the Quarry, a regional shopping center serving northeast and southeast Minneapolis. * Supported the Grain Belt brewhouse restoration, the Stinson Technology Campus, Humboldt Greenway partnership with Hennepin County, the Coliseum Building on East Lake Street. TIF funds: * Approximately $23 million dedicated to the City's ongoing redevelopment efforts; * NRP; * The Affordable Housing Initiative, our local program established to supplement federal Affordable Housing, funds, Emergency Shelter funds and other core housing activities; * Our only local program designed to address the redevelopment of blighted industrial land, assist in the creation and retention of jobs within the City and increase the City's tax base; and * Our only local program designed to revitalize neighborhood commercial corridors within the City by providing benefits to multiple businesses or a commercial area in general, including the development of parking and the removal of blight. Loss of this tool puts every one of these things in jeopardy. COUNCIL MEMBER JOAN CAMPBELL Affordable housing is central to our concerns. Two examples of specific housing developments already planned our underway that would be impacted include: * Construction of Phase II of Urban Village along the Midtown Greenway at Lake and Lyndale will not occur because insufficient tax increment revenue will be generated, resulting in a loss of 52 owner occupied housing units; * Many Rivers, a 73 unit housing development on East Franklin Avenue, including 54 affordable units, will not occur if additional funding sources are not identified to compensate for the reduction in tax increment revenue. Let me say it again - the City of Minneapolis is supportive of tax reform and tax relief. It appears that under this bill city taxpayers will receive significant tax reductions, including homeowners, apartment owners and businesses. This is good news for all of us. However, tax relief at the expense of our city's community development efforts is troubling. We must reach a final solution that provides tax relief while preserving critical state authorized community development funding tools. _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - Minnesota E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
