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Council approves Rivergate Mall economic-impact plan with amendment requiring tax-appeal disclosure
Summary
The Metropolitan Council approved an economic-impact plan for the Rivergate Mall redevelopment and added an amendment that requires developers to disclose if they are appealing property-assessment decisions, a transparency step sponsors said protects Metro from unforeseen liabilities.
The Metropolitan Council on May 20 approved an economic-impact plan tied to a proposed redevelopment of Rivergate Mall and added an amendment that requires companies receiving tax-increment financing or similar support to disclose whether they have appealed property-tax assessments.
Sponsor Councilmember Webb, speaking for the measure, thanked the mayor’s office and staff and said the plan will "really, really enhance" District 10. The council then adopted an amendment by Councilmember Evan Siegel that sponsors described as a “cleanup” to improve transparency on tax appeals. "When somebody gets a company gets a TIF and gets a tax break, they have to tell us if they are appealing their tax assessment," Siegel said. He said without that disclosure Metro may not receive evidence and could face additional liabilities.
Administration representative Bob Mendez told the council Metro had thoroughly evaluated the request. For context, Mendez compared the Rivergate transaction to the city’s work at another site, saying the city has invested about $45 million in purchase price and about $10 million in demolition costs at a prior mall project. He said the Rivergate deal would, "for a present value of about 22 and a half million dollars, we'll have a third party be able to redevelop the entire thing," a cost comparison he said made the Rivergate proposal attractive for investigation and action.
Special Counsel Darby and city staff described the amendment as an administrative safeguard and said it could be included in future agreements. Darby described the amendment as a provision the mayor’s office could include in TIF agreements and economic-impact plans to improve transparency.
Councilmember Andrea Allen was recorded as abstaining on the final vote; no numeric tally was given in the meeting record. The resolution enacted the economic-impact plan as amended and will be used to support the redevelopment process through the Industrial Development Board and related financing mechanisms. The administration said it will continue to coordinate project design and oversight with council offices and the IDB.
