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<br />troubles. In December 1999, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and terminated most <br /> <br />of its remaining employees (Kennedy & Fiedler, 1999). The company subsequently went out of <br /> <br />business and the government now owns the manufacturing facility. <br /> <br />Was this a legitimate use of tax increment financing? Under the current law it was a <br /> <br />legitimate use for an economic development district. When faced with the potential of all of <br /> <br />these jobs, the city of Belle Plaine was exercising the intent of the current tax increment rules by <br /> <br />trying to attract an employment base for its residents. However, it would not be considered a <br /> <br />legitimate use under the original intent of TIF, which was the removal of blight. The facility, <br /> <br />which was designed solely to manufacture motorcycles, was built in a cornfield. (For the city to <br /> <br />attract a new business to take over this facility, it will likely have to expend more dollars to <br /> <br />renovate the facility for other manufacturing uses.) <br /> <br />Current Status of TIF <br /> <br />Legislation now favors use of tax increment financing by suburbs. Since much of the <br /> <br />Minnesota legislature comes from suburban areas, this is not a surprise. What is a surprise is <br /> <br />how negatively the legislature views the use of tax increment financing by the city of <br /> <br />Minneapolis and some of the inner-ring suburbs. Some of this negativity could perhaps be <br /> <br />warranted; here are some recent examples of perceived misuses of TIF. <br /> <br />City of Richfield. Richfield's removal of a car dealership, which was replaced with the <br /> <br />corporate headquarters for Best Buy, could be viewed as an inappropriate use of TIF. Was a <br /> <br />car dealership the best possible use for this land? Maybe, maybe not. When faced with a <br /> <br />company wanting to locate a corporate headquarters (and lots of jobs), most cities would jump <br /> <br />at the chance. Aside from the new jobs, the property taxes generated off the new corporate <br /> <br />building would be much higher than those generated off the car dealership. <br /> <br />The problem that Richfield encountered was a result of the criteria established in state <br /> <br />law for determining blighted conditions in the Redevelopment District legislation. Minnesota <br /> <br />Statutes Chapter 469.174, subdivision 10, specifically states that a municipality may not make a <br /> <br />22 <br />