EDC debates formal investment policy, tables economic-impact software pending city review
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Summary
The board discussed a draft investment policy and an economic-impact modeling subscription; members voted to have the director compare the draft to the city comprehensive plan and forward it to council for review, and they postponed buying the Impact Dashboard pending comparison with county services.
The Santa Fe Economic Development Corporation spent significant time at its May 27 meeting discussing a draft investment (incentive) policy and a proposed subscription to an economic-impact platform.
The draft policy lays out targeted industries, minimum thresholds for eligibility (primary jobs, taxable sales, capital investment) and an approach for quantifying potential EDC participation in incentives; it also contemplates that the EDC will review applications and forward recommendations to City Council for any formal incentive agreements.
Devin, executive director, said the policy is intended as “guardrails” to help staff and Council assess requests and to provide prospective investors with clarity on the types of projects the community would prioritize. He described the policy as nonbinding guidance and said legal review typically occurs when the city and a prospect negotiate a specific agreement.
Board members were split on how prescriptive the policy should be and whether the EDC or city attorney should review it before Council sees it. A motion was made directing the executive director to compare the draft policy with the city's comprehensive plan and submit it to City Council for review. The motion ultimately passed after additional discussion and a roll-call exchange; the director will return a revised draft to the board after Council feedback.
The policy conversation dovetailed with a presentation proposal from Impact Data Source for a product called Impact Dashboard, a subscription service (roughly $5,750/year) that the director said would create community-specific economic multipliers and intake forms to estimate benefits and costs to each local taxing entity. Devin said the Dashboard can estimate not only positive tax and job impacts but also incremental costs to city services (police, fire, water).
Board members asked for time to compare the proposed platform with services already funded through BayHAP (a regional partner) and to clarify whether BayHAP can provide city-level multipliers. After that check, the board voted to postpone action on the Impact Dashboard item and requested the director pursue whether existing regional partners can supply comparable, city-level modeling before committing budget funds.
Members also discussed practical questions raised by the policy and modeling proposal: whether Santa Fe has move-in-ready retail space or the demographic profile certain retailers seek, whether the EDC should invest in property to attract tenants, and how any EDC recommendation would fit with City Council's legal authority over tax abatement and other incentives.
The board did not adopt a final investment policy at the meeting; instead it asked the director to return a revised draft after a comparison with the comprehensive plan and after Council has had an opportunity to review.
