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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-14-10 Chair James Ostlund (2011) 1245 W. Highway 96 Committee Members �RnF,N HILLS Arden Hills, MN 55112 Jeff Johnson (200 11) _' 651.792.7800 Arlene Mitchell (2010) www.ci.arden-hills.mn.us John Braun (2012) Arden Hills Katy Peters (2012) (Vacant Seat) (2010) Financial Planning and Council Liaison Brenda Holden Analysis Committee December 14, 2010 City Vision A strong community that values its unique environmental setting, strong residential neighborhoods, vital business community, well-maintained infrastructure, fiscal soundness, and our long-standing tradition as a desirable City in which to live, work, and play. Agenda Regular Committee Meeting Convenes 6:00 PM Call to Order 1. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA 2. MINUTES A. November 9, 2010 - Regular Meeting 3. UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS A. Long-Term Financial Forecast Model B. Continue discussion on developing a TIF policy e. REPORTS A. Report from the City Council B. Financial Planning and Analysis Committee Comments and Requests 5. ADJOURNMENT A quorum of the City Council may be present at this meeting. • MINUTES EN HILLS • FINANCIAL PLANNING&ANALYSIS COMMITTEE Tuesday,November 9, 2010 6:00 P.M. Second Level Conference Room, Arden Hills City Hall CALL MEETING TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL The meeting was called to order by Jim Ostlund at 6:00 pm. MEMBERS PRESENT: John Braun; Brenda Holden,Council Liaison; Arlene Mitchell; Jim Ostlund; Katharine Peters MEMBERS NOT PRESENT: Jeff Johnson OTHERS PRESENT:Jill Hutmacher;Sue Iverson; Patrick Klaers; Joe Rueb Call to Order 1. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA Motioned: Arlene Mitchell Seconded:John Braun 2. APPROVAL OF OCTOBER 12,2010 MINUTES Approved as amended Motioned: Arlene Mitchell • Seconded:John Braun 3. UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS A. Meet new Community Development Director Jill Hutmacher B. Continue discussion on developing a TIF policy The subcommittees gave an update on their findings. Ostlund will email Iverson an email with a specific question to be sent out on the ListServ. The date of the joint meeting should be emailed to the Committee. The Committee would like to review and discuss the"point spreadsheet"provided by Sand's Co. at a previous meeting. Iverson may want to request Dan Jordet to present information at a future meeting. 4. REPORTS A. Report from the City Council Holden provided an update on previous Council actions and activities. B. Financial Planning and Analysis Committee Comments and Requests 5. ADJOURNMENT Motioned: Jim Ostlund Seconded: John Braun Jim Ostlund, Chair Susan K. Iverson, Finance Director • City of Arden Hills 1245 West Highway 96•Arden Hills Minnesota 55112 Phone 651.792.7800•Fax 651.634.5137 • ARZEN HILLS MEMORANDUM DATE: December 14, 2010 TO: Financial Planning and Analysis Committee FROM: Sue Iverson, Director of Finance and Administrative Services Kyle Howard, Finance Analyst SUBJECT: Meeting agenda Discussion on Developing a TIF policy One of the items on the 2010 work plan was: To develop a TIF policy as to what maximum percentage of the City should be in a TIF district. As we have potential projects that may request TIF assistant, the council would like the committee to explore and start working on this policy. This will ultimately be done with the EDC, but we would like to start the discussions and explore what information needs to be gathered and develop a "work plan" on how to begin this task. We will continue having discussions as committee on this project. We are also attaching some information on TIF at the request of Chair Ostlund. Presentation of Financial Forecasting Model We have been working on the financial forecasting model and have shown this to the City Council for feedback. We are also looking for feedback from this committee. We have attached a copy of the agenda item when we presented this to the City Council for your information. Kyle will be presenting this at the meeting. • Multi-Print Viewer Page 1 of 3 4 . ; Inc.' America's Newspapers Number of TIF districts rose in '01 - Use of the redevelopment tool grew even as legislative changes made it less productive. Star Tribune: Newspaper of the Twin Cities(Minneapolis, MN)-Saturday, July 27, 2002 Author:Dan Wascoe Jr. ;Staff Writer Minnesota cities are increasing their use of a controversial redevelopment tool called tax-increment financing despite state tax changes that were expected to reduce the amount of revenue it will generate. The number of cities and towns with tax-increment districts -areas pegged for redevelopment-rose from 417 in 2000 to 418 in 2001,and the number of districts rose from 1,673 to 1,751, according to figures compiled by the Citizens League, a nonprofit research organization based in Minneapolis. Cities that use the tax-increment tool(called TIF)use increased property taxes in a TlF district to pay for public redevelopment costs-buying and clearing land, cleaning up polluted soil and changing roads to serve the project. TIF projects are controversial because the increased tax revenue is not available for general government functions such as snowplowing and police and fire protection until the TIF district expires-after as many as 25 years. It also is not available to school districts and other government bodies that normally share those revenues. But many cities, urban and rural,consider TIF an important tool to renew blighted areas. In 2001, there were 611 districts in the seven-county metro area last year and 1,140 in the rest of the state, the report says. TIF has been around for three decades in Minnesota. It has been amended often by the Legislature, and two cases involving the use of TIF by Richfield drew split decisions this year from the Minnesota Supreme Court. ecent tax changes by the Legislature were expected to change cities'use of TIF. The Legislature altered property-tax ormulas for commercial and industrial property. It also took over most costs of public schools, previously paid in large part from local property taxes. One result of the changes was expected to be a reduction of up to 40 percent in the money that TIF districts generated to repay development costs. But Joel Michael,a longtime tax analyst for the Minnesota House, said Friday that a lively real-estate market fueled mostly by low interest rates has sustained the enthusiasm of cities or developers for using tax-increment financing. Even if cities have less TIF revenue to dangle in front of potential developers, ''developers don't want to leave money on the table,"he said. He also said that although the stock market has declined precipitously, "We haven't had a real- estate recession yet." He added that because property taxes are lower, developers may have more leeway in the rents they can charge business tenants in the redeveloped areas. One complication is that legislators this year also eliminated a fund targeted at cities where TIF districts do not generate enough revenue to repay city bonds.The fund, which had not been tapped as much as expected, was dropped as part of legislators'broad budget reductions last spring,Michael said. He said that cities have learned to shift some risk to developers. Even so, he said, some local governments are nervous about the removal of the state safety net. He said he expects cities to ask the Legislature to extend the term of tax- increment districts to allow the refinancing of TIF debt at lower amounts over a longer period. The new report shows that, in the metro area, Carver County had the greatest share of its tax base in TIF districts-18.6 percent, compared with an average of 8.1 percent for the area as a whole. In nonmetro areas, 3.4 percent of cities'tax base was in active TIF districts. The statewide average was 6.4 percent. -Dan Wascoe Jr. is at dwascoe@startribune.com. • • http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb 12/9/2010 Multi-Print Viewer Page 2 of 3 Cities with highest shares of tax base in TIF districts The following cities have the highest percentages of their net tax capacity committed to tax-increment financing districts. Tax revenue from TIF districts is not available for general government functions such as snow-plowing or police and fire protection. Percent Number of net tax of TIF capacity in TIF districts Twin Cities area 1. Landfall 58.2% 1 2. Rogers 31.0 8 3.Chaska 26.4 3 4. Mounds View 23.2 5 5. Chanhassen 21.7 7 110.Champlin 18.2 4 7. Ramsey 18.1 4 8.Anoka 17.8 3 9. Brooklyn Park 17.7 13 10. Maple Plain 16.8 5 Minneapolis 14.8 75 St. Paul 10.3 18 Non-metro cities 1. Claremont 36.2% 1 2.Clontarf 33.2 2 3. Rush City 30.2 5 4. Dundas 28.7 2 5. Renville 28.3 9 40. Fosston 27.0 4 7. Pelican Rapids 25.5 5 http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/Info Web 12/9/2010 Multi-Print Viewer Page 3 of 3 8. Biwabik 24.6 3 St. Clair 23.6 1 10. Beaver Bay 23.5 1 Caption: CHART Edition:METRO Section:NEWS Page:3B Index Terms:report;finance;development;taxation;increase Record Number: 020727TIF27 Copyright 2002 Star Tribune:Newspaper of the Twin Cities • http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb 12/9/2010 • EN HILLS MEMORANDUM DATE: November 15, 2010 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members Patrick Klaers, City Administrator FROM: Sue Iverson, Finance Director/Treasurer Kyle Howard, Finance Intern SUBJECT: Long-Range Financial Plan Background The City Council had a goal/directive for the finance department to prepare a long-range financial forecasting model. Preliminary work had been done in 2006 with Ehlers Inc which resulted in the model that currently is included in the 2009 and 2010 budget books. It was requested that the model be more interactive to be used for strategic planning (part of the goals and objectives written into the Finance Director's performance evaluation for 2010). Forecasts can be used to create a context for evaluating the annual budget, establishing a baseline for measuring the long-term effects of decisions, to test the economic effects of best-case and worst-case scenarios, and to establish a baseline projection of revenues, expenditures, and future cash flows and fund balances. The long-range financial model should help both staff and council evaluate the financial effects of proposed initiatives and to help educate constituents about an organization's present and potential financial capabilities. It should include well-designed charts and tables that can be used as visual aids in public presentations which can help elected officials, citizens, and other stakeholders gain a better understanding of financial issues. Current Discussion Finance staff had been researching and working on a model as time has permitted. During this research, staff found a model produced by MuniCast that is done entirely in Excel and has the features and capabilities requested which includes programming, customization, and is entirely turned over to us when completed. • City Council Meeting \\Metro-inet\ardenhills\Admin\Council\Agendas&Packet Information\2010\11-15-10 Worksession\Packet Information\2A Long-Range Financial Plan.doc Page 1 of 2 . . . Finance has spent the last three months working on this model and gathering the necessary data for the historical information or the baseline forecast. We have a template which we are ready to present to the City Council, but this model is still a work-in-progress and we now need additional information from the City Council to continue working on the model. We need feedback from the Council to program the metrics for trend and correlation analysis. The model will help us produce alternative scenarios depicting favorable and unfavorable variations. Our finance intern, Kyle Howard, will do a brief presentation on the model and then will introduce and lead a discussion on the type of information on what type of indicators the Council would like to see us program into the model. We anticipate that the model will be ready to use for the 2012 budget cycle. Council Action Provide feedback and discussion to staff on the model and the Key Indicators that the City Council would like to see programmed into the model. • Ill City Council Meeting 1\Metro-inet\ardenhills\Admin\Council\Agendas&Packet Information120 10\11-15-10 Worksession\Packet Information\2A Long-Range Financial Plan.doc Page 2 of 2 • 12/10/2010 • Long-Term Financial Forecast Model Outline . Benefits of a Long-Term Financial Forecast Background . Cautionary Statement • . Council Input How the Program Works Future Plans Questions? Benefits of a Long-term Financial Forecast I. Create a more strategic context for evaluating the yearly budgets. 2. Establish a baseline for measuring the long- term impacts of future decisions. 3. Ability to do"Best and Worst Case"scenarios of future finance decisions. 4. Establish baseline projections of Revenues, Expenditures,Future Cash Flows and Fund Balances. • 1 • 12/10/2010 • Background of Project What we have done so far and currently working on. 1"stage of planning and data gathering were completed at the end of October • 7 years of past Historical Data(Audited Data) - 2 years of Future Data(Budgeted) Initial Familiarization of the Program • Checking for Data Consistency • Verifying Data Transfer Accuracy General Fund(101)is the initial fund that is being worked on and modified Caution A long-term Financial Forecast Model does not show the absolutes of the future It is a tool that is helpful in making an • educated guess on the long-term effects of different financial scenarios For the model to be accurate as possible, it must be maintained and updated regularly It is a Fluid Model and will always be changing Information which is Still Needed We need Council Input on Indicators you would like to see added to the program. Relevance to Department Functions Performance Indicators Economic Indicators Financial Indicators For Example A Property Tax Levy Indicator was identified and is under construction • 2 12/10/2010 • Model Demonstration k Key Indicators Financial Summary Sensitivity Analysis Forecast Assumptions Statistical Analysis Trend Analysis Account Based Department Based Future Plans 1, Continue to work with MuniCast to customize and complete the General Fund. Then complete the rest of the funds. • Identify the Key Indicators Prepare to start using the Software for the 2012 forecasted budget. Routinely maintain and up-date forecast model. Questions? • 3 • TIF Selection Process Whitepaper for Arden Hills December 6, 2010 Summary We recommend that the City Council: I. Establish long-term TIF assessment criteria 2. Develop a point-based assessment system Background TIF The original argument made to legislatures to create TIF was that it created a way for cash- strapped communities to finance the upfront costs associated with redeveloping blighted areas, most commonly cleanup/remediation costs and infrastructure improvements. Subsidized ioredevelopment in an area could then spur future, unsubsidized redevelopment. TIF has long-term effects that need to be considered when making a decision about providing TIF for a project. "Unlike property taxes, increments are not used to pay for the general costs of cities, counties, and schools. Instead, increments go to the development authority and are used to repay public indebtedness or current costs the city incurred in acquiring the property, removing existing structures or installing public services." (League of Minnesota Cities) FPAC Committee Arden Hills already has TIF Districts and anticipates the need for more TIF financing. The Financial Planning and Analysis Committee was asked to look at how the City selects TIF projects and make recommendations about the process. The Committee addressed three broad questions: • How much of the city's tax base can it afford to have in TIF Districts? • How does the city best allot its TIF dollars to support its long term goals? (First come, first served may not provide the best outcome for the city.) • Are there tools or methods that will help city leadership assess each TIF request? The committee has reviewed cases and policies from other cities around the United States as well as processes used in corporate America to evaluate long-term strategic options and projects. • Page 1 of 6 • TIF Decision Process Overview There are many tools the City of Arden Hills can use to drive development in the city, including preferential use of city facilities, loans, direct subsidies,property tax abatement, and Tax Increment Financing (TIF). These varying tools have different long-term and short-term costs. TIF is one type of business subsidy. Importantly, TIF is a long-term subsidy with long-term cost and benefit impacts that must be considered. This stands in contrast to some other forms of subsidies where the costs and impacts tend to be more short-term nature. The use of TIF can be thought about as having two decision layers. The first layer involves near term considerations: • Is the individual project acceptable under the City of Arden Hills business subsidy Policy? • Is the project financially feasible? • Is it TIF request currently affordable under the <TIF spending guidelines being developed by the second FPAC sub-committee—how would they like to say this?>. The second layer of considerations involves long-term considerations. • How does an individual project compare to the stated long-term goals and vision of Arden Hills? • How does the project compare to other potential long-term projects that are not yet identified? a • How much long term leverage can the City obtain from a particular TIF project? • <Does the other sub-committee want to add something(s)here? Before a TIF project is approved, the project should be acceptable under both levels of consideration. Short-term consideration In general,the short-term considerations are not particularly difficult to assess. The first step is to match the project to the City's Business Subsidy criteria. The project must fall within the guidelines outlined. The second step is also relatively straightforward: the project must meet the financial thresholds for a TIF project. Finally, as a third step the project alone or in conjunction with other known projects cannot drive the city to exceed its total desired TIF limit. These short-term considerations should be considered a threshold. A project must pass these tests to be considered for TIF funding. However, TIF funding is long-term, therefore the more important considerations are the long-term considerations. Long-term consideration By its nature TIF has long term impacts. The creation of a TIF District sidelines tax money for a period of time measured in years or even decades. Because only so much TIF is affordable for the City, at a very minimum any individual TIF District presents a long-term (lost)opportunity cost—a project today may preclude another different,potentially more beneficial, yet unknown • Page 2 of 6 project tomorrow. Therefore the TIF decision making process should be focused on long-term • considerations. Recommendation for Creating a TIF Evaluation Process Develop measurement criteria We recommend that the city debate and approve a set of long-term criteria with which to weigh potential TIF projects. The City has already developed a vision statement. The Committee considered whether this might be adequate as long term measurement criteria. One could simply compare a development project to the City's stated long-term strategic goals. While the process would be a good first step, we feel that it is too broadly worded to be used as criteria and would lead to confusion from both developers trying to assess how the city will view their individual projects and citizens who wonder why a particular project is or is not approved. We recommend the city develop a set of more refined, long-term selection criteria with which to weigh development projects seeking TIF. We further recommend that developing these criteria be done outside the process of considering any individual project. This will help ensure, as best as possible, an independent view of the long-term needs and strategy of the City. These long-term criteria would then be integrated into the current process of evaluating business subsidies. Assign points We recommend using a point based assessment system. There are multiple ways to implement this,but the goal of any method should be that when a project is assessed it would be granted points relative to how much it met each criterion and how relatively important that criterion is. The intent of the points system is not that it would make the decision for the City Council,but rather that it would focus discussion on the most salient points of the project under consideration. Any large project is inherently complex and it is important to avoid prematurely debating its finer points. It has been suggested that an objective rather than subjective point system be developed, however given the complexity of redevelopment projects and the mix of short- and long-term costs and benefits involved,the Committee could come up with no strictly objective measure. That said,where possible we strongly encourage objective measure wherever feasible. We also recommend that specific minimum requirements be laid out, including enumerating any specific types of projects that are not considered appropriate for TIF because by their nature such projects do not provide the necessary long-term benefits. Scoring would be done by the City Council or its designated representatives. We commend that the following points,taken from our research, be held in mind throughout this process: Page 3 of 6 1. The "but for"tests are only the minimum requirements for qualifying for TIF;prudent • communities set more stringent requirements. 2. TIF is there to solve community problems. 3. Use TIF only when truly necessary; it was never designed to be an alternate financing method for private developers. Long-term TIF Selection Criteria Below is a draft of what selection criteria might look like. This is for discussion purposes only. The goal would be to modify the percentages and the specific criteria and have the City Council eventually, debate,vote and approve the Criteria. Once this is done the Economic Development Committee(EDC),with any assistance needed from FPAC, should develop a detailed scoring process and methodology. Minimum requirements to use TIF • The long-term viability of the development partner has been reviewed and the City has determined that the partner has the financial stability and track record to drive the full benefit of the project over the life of the project • The objective of the project produces long-term expected benefit that exceeds the length of the TIF and is at least 15 years in duration. Projects Specifically not Authorized for TIF • • Market or higher rate housing projects Selection Criteria (in rank priority order within each section) Community Goals 60% 1. Materially enhances the health, safety and well-being of all who live, work and play in the City. a. Enhances an interconnected system of trails,pathways and open spaces. b. Protects and preserves the community's natural resources including open spaces, lakes,wetlands, other significant natural features and historic resources. 2. Enhances or retains development of TCAAP in a way that accommodates a mix of land uses that is sensitive to the natural environment, economically sustainable and a benefit to the community 3. Retains or creates jobs that are long-term in nature and at or above the median for the State of Minnesota(vs. Business Subsidy Policy standard?) 4. Creates a desirable commercial/retail environment that enhances the long-term vitality of the City. 5. Provides a transportation system that has convenient and effective multi-modal connections within Arden Hills and to adjacent municipalities, the remainder of the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area and greater Minnesota. Future Leverage Goals 30% 1. Likelihood project will spur other projects that will not require further subsidy. 11111 a. Increases the ability to further develop a healthy and accessible community Page 4 of 6 b. the center for further business development c. Increases likelihood of job growth in a growing industry Regional Goals 10% 2. Moves the region closer to its mix goals for affordable housing 3. Enhances the regional trail system and it's integration with the Arden Hills trail system Next Steps 1.) Circulate Whitepaper with entire FPAC; debate and modify as appropriate. 2.) Meet with Jill Huttmacher to learn about her experiences with TIF 3.) Integrate the two Sub-committee's findings into one Whitepaper/recommendation from the entire FPAC. 4.) Place topic on City Council working session agenda for discussion and feedback. 5.) City Council to debate and approve(subject to modifications and amendment)"Long- term TIF Selection Criteria" 6.) Based on City Council's approved Long-term TIF Selection Criteria, EDC (with • assistance from FPAC)to develop Long-term TIF Criteria point system and revised TIF approval process 7.) City to embody new process and point system into TIF approval policy. • Page 5 of 6 what the final components and process might look like • TIF Assessment Components and Process City Management Information (Identified outside any project proposal) City development goals City financial goals Prioritized and weighted Prioritized and weighted TIF Budget and plan ♦Ii TIF Assessment Worksheet TIF Assessment Process (The 3 steps of the worksheet done for each project) Initial project screening Passes City's subsidy criteria? • TIF regulatory qualification? City has TIF capacity? Matches well enough to continue s Long-term screening Long term benefits to City? Long term viability of partner? Matches well enough to continue 1. TIF assessment How well does project rank? EDC recommendation? Ranks well enough to recommend to City Council TIF assessment City Council approval? III Page 6 of 6