$5 million back to communities in TIF revenue

This TIF report might be more interesting than in past years, with the attention paid to Destination Medical Center's tax proposals:

State Auditor Otto Releases Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Legislative
Report

Contact: Jim Levi, Office of the State Auditor, (651) 297-3683,
Jim.Levi@osa.state.mn.us

ST. PAUL (2/6/2013) – State Auditor Rebecca Otto has released the Tax
Increment Financing Legislative Report.  This seventeenth Annual
Legislative Report (Report) was compiled from information received from
the 426 development authorities currently authorized to exercise tax
increment financing (TIF) powers in Minnesota.  The Report summarizes
the data received from the 1,810 unaudited TIF reports for the calendar
year ended December 31, 2011, and provides a summary of the violations
cited in the limited-scope reviews concluded by the Office of the State
Auditor (OSA) in 2012. Tax increment financing (TIF) is a financing tool
established by the Legislature to support local economic development,
redevelopment, and housing development.

Highlights from the report include:

Current Trends:
   
-- In 2011, development authorities returned $5,070,233 in tax
increment revenue to county auditors for redistribution to the city,
county, and school district as property taxes.

-- The total number of TIF districts certified in 2011 increased by 72
percent compared to 2010.  The number of economic development districts
certified increased from 12 to 33.

-- In 2011, 35 percent of TIF districts were located in the Metro Area;
65 percent were located in Greater Minnesota.

-- Although most districts are located in Greater Minnesota,
approximately $210 million of the $252 million of tax increment, or 83
percent, was generated in the Metro Area.

Long-Term Trends:
   
-- In 2011, certifications decreased by 27 percent as compared to 2007.


-- Tax increment revenues for 2011 stabilized after two years of
decline.

-- Between 1996 and 2004 the number of districts increased.  From 2004
through 2011 there has been a decline.  One cause of this decline is
that older districts are decertifying.

To view the complete report, which includes an Executive Summary,
tables, and graphs, go to:

http://www.auditor.state.mn.us/default.aspx?page=20130205.000.

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