I've been reading the TIF thread without comment because (frankly) don't know anything about it, but picked up this Action Alert from the Saint Paul Chamber (at bottom) and do believe both raise same questions: What's the most effective use of tax dollars? How do we leverage assets (city/county/school district dollars)? Where do we see the greatest return on investment? If Excel Energy can figure out the payout of a new furnace and Art Rolnick can calculate ROI on early childhood education, I'm thinking local government agencies can figure out ROI when developing departmental and capital budgets. On the other hand, I also believe there's a place for vision and collective will, putting something on the table "because we want it." There needs to be a place for those things where the cost of calculating the return on investment exceeds the return on the act of calculating the cost. One of the things that may be happening is that technology is pushing our capacity to track and calculate costs, thereby pushing communities to be more data driven in their decision-making in the same way that we're pushing our schools to do so. I think we need to be careful not to lose site of what motivates people - Vision. Passion. Faith. I read through the Mayor's StreetBeats initiative, signed up for the updates, linked to the NEAT Web site where connected, plan to participate in at least one of the neighborhood conversations, and will bring to the NEAT Advocacy Team meeting tonight as a possible process for seeking input. I also have to say I am much impressed. Shows me Saint Paul is ahead of the curve on engaging the community (stakeholders) in a genuine conversation about shaping the future. Now if we could just push for this kind of leadership at the state level! --Jennifer Armstrong Payne/Phalen www.stpaulneat.org ================= Action Alert from Saint Paul Chamber The Saint Paul City Council is poised to decide tomorrow on the final budget before next weeks public hearing and truth in taxation hearing. Included in that budget is $1 million for the Holman Field diking project. Holman Field is Saint Paul's downtown airport; it serves as a reliever airport to Minneapolis/St Paul International. Many corporations use the airport for business travel. It is a key asset for the economic competitiveness of our region. The airfield was built on a flood plain and has flooded numerous times in the past 10 years causing major disruption in usage for the tenants. Without the diking/flood mitigation, the future of Holman Field is in serious jeopardy. If Holman Field diking project is not funded, St. Paul stands to lose an important economic tool. The airport alone directly has 300 jobs with a $35 million dollar payroll and $88 million dollars in direct spending generating 1,000 jobs. The $1 million city funds being requested will leverage $24-28 million in other government funds. _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul
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