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. Minutes of Regular Council Meeting Monday, November 28, 1983 Page Nine Council resumed discussion re the Administration Fee. Hicks said the 1% fee was a substantial factor influencing him to approve the scheduling of tonight's public hearings. Christiansen said that an important factor in our discussion of IRB financing was the viability of the 1% Administrative Fee. Christiansen said he is also concerned about the fees that are being paid, or will be paid, when you look at the Administrative Fee and Park Dedication; asked . the exact value of the land. Weir replied $1,150,000. Christiansen said if we assume 10% park dedication ($115,000) and 1% , m'i nus arbitrage, Administrative Fee ($150,000+) we're looking . at a $265,000 expenditure on the part of the developer; said this seems like a very heavy hit for a project he would like to see become a reality. Christiansen noted that there is at remendoua nee d by t.he Ci ty to raise some money in the next few yea rs to cover coata of some very large projects; no te d this is a handy way to do it, but said he'd be open t~ look at some arrange men t be tWeen an Adminis traUve Fee, so we can use that money for ourp urposes, by making an adj us tment to the 1.0% .park dedication. Woodburn noted one argument for adjuating the park dedication fee has already been given in that some expense has already gone for water control on the project; noted that this water control is for draining water from parking lots on the project that was not the re before. Woodburn noted that on some occasions the re has been some adjustment of the park dedication fee, mostly when the control was needed for water running through the si te from some other source. Woodburn said he, also, has not thought about the park dedication Dr this project; noted the re may be some justification for park dedication adjustment for the on-site water control. Weir explained that part of the reason that the Chamber of Commerce presented the Resolution fo r tonights meeting is that there is a significant populatio~ that all of you are representing as Council membe rs , many of whom do not vote, but they pay in excess of 50% of the total tax revenue paid into the City of Arden IIi lis; this can be looked at as a subsidy to the resi den tial 'p rope rty tax p aye r. This is extremely unfair to the commercial tax payer if you compare it to the level of the services provided by the Ci ty. Weir said the City Council is in a ve ry powerful position; it can kill the p ro j e c t , or can make it a reality. Financial feasibility is -something th a t we are concerned ab out as much as the Council; noted that what you don't want is a partially built project. Weir said he would like this fee to be reasonable; Woodbridge Properties is here aa friends of the City of Arden Hills; we wan t to be here; we hope you'll want to encourage us to be here. You can't add $100 here and another $100 there, without having it start to add up. I t wi 11 affect the economic viability. Weir asked Council to re-evaluate all of its earlier positions and to consider our application proposal that the fee be limited to $5,000 and that the non-refundable fee be applied to it; if you feel this is insufficient, move it up to ~ of 1%, but 1% simply is an onerous level to withstand when you add all the other elements on top of it; asked that Council look at it on behalf of the commercial tax- . payers that are paying half of the revenue. Weir said an alternative he has offered is to pay off the spe ci al assessments on the property. Hicks reminded Weir that Council talked ab ou t these fees four weeks ago; said he feels strongly about the 1% Adminis trati ve Fee. ,. Mulcahy said that the $15,000,000 development will benefit Arden Hills by real est~te taxes; feels our City should be careful to not ove rload the f ron t-end cos ts . Woodburn noted that a large po,rtion of this tax goes to the Metro Cities as the result of the fiscal dispari ties act; noted that it may be a net advantage to the school district,; noted that fire and police cos ts are high. -