116J.573 Criteria for accounts and projects.
Subdivision 1. Accounts. Criteria for use of the accounts created in section 116J.571 must be consistent with and promote the purposes of sections 116J.571 to 116J.575. They include, but are not limited to:
(1) creating and preserving living wage jobs in greater Minnesota;
(2) creating incentives for communities to include a full range of housing opportunities;
(3) creating incentives for all communities to implement compact, efficient, and mixed-use development; and
(4) creating incentives to assist communities in maintaining a unique sense of place by preserving local, cultural assets.
Subd. 2. Projects. To be eligible for funding by the greater Minnesota redevelopment account, a project must:
(1) interrelate redevelopment with other public investments in transportation, housing, schools, energy, utilities information infrastructure, and other public services;
(2) interrelate affordable housing and employment growth areas;
(3) intensify land use that leads to more compact redevelopment;
(4) involve redevelopment that mixes incomes of residents in housing, including introducing or reintroducing higher value housing in lower income areas to achieve a mix of housing opportunities;
(5) involve participation from citizens and the business community in the planning and development of the proposed redevelopment plan;
(6) encourage public infrastructure investments which attract private sector redevelopment investment in commercial, industrial, and residential properties adjacent to public improvements, and provide project area residents with expanded opportunities for private sector employment; or
(7) be sustainable at the local level and reduce the probability of future requests for state development, maintenance, or replacement assistance.
Subd. 3. Other factors. The factors listed in subdivisions 1 and 2 are not ranked in order of priority. Rather, the commissioner may weigh each factor depending upon the facts and circumstances as the commissioner considers appropriate. The commissioner may consider other factors including, but not limited to, blight reduction, community stabilization, and property tax base maintenance or improvement.
Subd. 4. Partnerships. The commissioner shall give priority to proposals using innovative financial partnerships between government, private for-profit, and nonprofit sectors as well as to proposals that meet current tax increment financing requirements for a redevelopment district and contribute tax increment financing towards the project.
Subd. 5. Annual report. The commissioner shall prepare and submit to the legislature an annual report on the greater Minnesota redevelopment account. The report must include information on the amount of money in the account, the amount distributed, to whom the grants were distributed and for what purposes, and an evaluation of the effectiveness of the projects funded in meeting the policies and goals of the program.
HIST: 2002 c 393 s 49
Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes