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„,,--A-RZEN HILLS <br />CITY OF ARDEN HILLS <br />MEMORANDUM <br />DATE: September 4, 2009 <br />TO: Mayor and City Council <br />FROM: James Lehnhoff, Community Development Director <br />SUBJECT: Arden Village — Tax Increment Financing Review <br />At the August 17, 2009, City Council work session, Sand Companies Inc. (SCI) presented a <br />concept proposal for a 55 unit affordable housing building at 1296 County Road F. As part of <br />that proposal, SCI is requesting a letter of support from the City Council for a Housing Tax <br />Credit application with the Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA). Housing Tax Credit <br />applications have a greater chance of approval with support from the local government unit. The <br />proposal to the City includes a preliminary request for $400,000 in public assistance in the form <br />of Tax Increment Financing (TIF). An alterative to TIF is a waiver or reduction of development <br />fees such as building permit fees, SAC/WAC, and/or park dedication. <br />A letter of support from the City would be a good faith commitment; however, it is not a TIF <br />approval. The project would still need to meet all state and local requirements, including the <br />"but for” analysis. Since the project is contingent upon the tax credits, the complete TIF analysis <br />would not occur until after the tax credits are awarded by MHFA. Despite the letter of support, <br />if the project is ultimately unable to meet state or local requirements, the City would not be <br />required to approve the TIF assistance. <br />During the work session, the City Council requested additional information regarding the <br />preliminary TIF request: <br />• How much in property taxes would this housing project generate and how would that <br />compare to a commercial/industrial use on the property? <br />• What would be the difference between extending the existing Cottage Villas TIF district <br />for this project or creating a new TIF district? <br />Until a complete application is submitted, it is not possible to complete a full analysis. This <br />analysis is considered preliminary and could change with the final application. SCI has <br />submitted their projection of how much the project would generate in property taxes. <br />City of Arden Hills <br />Arden Village — Preliminary Tax Increment Financing Review <br />Page 1 of 4 <br />