6.6. EDSR 01-16-2018
Request for Action
To Item Number
Economic Development Authority 6.6
Agenda Section Meeting Date Prepared by
Consent January 16, 2018 Amanda Othoudt, EDD
Item Description Reviewed by
Modifications/Amendments to Statute and/or Cal Portner, City Administrator
Enabling Resolution
Reviewed by
Action Requested
Receive report on modifications or amendments to statutes and/or enabling resolution.
Background/Discussion
Economic Development Authority Bylaws allow for the review of any modifications or amendments to
the statute and/or enabling resolution. The EDA attorney has provided a review and submitted an update
as suggested each year, and is attached.
These updates will be reflected in ongoing processes and policies.
Financial Impact
N/A
Attachments
EDA attorney memo dated January 11, 2018
The Elk River Vision
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service, and community engagement that encourages and inspires prosperity
Offices in 470 U.S. Bank Plaza
200 South Sixth Street
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Minneapolis MN 55402
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(612) 337-9300 telephone
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(612) 337-9310 fax
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www.kennedy-graven.com
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Affirmative Action Equal Opportunity Employer
CHARTERED
MEMORANDUM
TO: Elk River EDA Chair and Commissioners
FROM: Jenny Boulton
DATE: January 11, 2016
RE: Economic Development Authority Legislative Update
The bylaws for the EDA require an annual update of legislative changes to the Economic
Development Authority Act, Minnesota Statutes, Sections 469.090 to 469.1082. Outlined below are
legislative changes enacted in 2016 that are relevant to the EDA.
There were no legislative changes to the Economic Development Authority Act.
Other economic development legislative changes impacting the EDA included the following:
Workforce Development Area Changes. Chapter 129 (HF 3081/SF 2709) amends
provisions of Minn. Stat. § 116L.666 which pertains to workforce service areas that
administer federal, state, and local employment and training services including local
workforce centers. It changes the designation of “workforce service areas” to “workforce
development areas.” It changes “local workforce council” to “local workforce development
board.” It specifies area workforce and community-based organization membership on local
boards to include: labor, veterans, persons with disabilities, minorities, older workers,
housing, secondary career and technical education or philanthropic organizations, which
must constitute at least 20% of the membership of the board. The existing law percentage is
15%. It also specifies that community colleges are included in reference to higher
educational agencies and clarifies references to vocational rehabilitation programs and
representatives of adult education and literacy programs.
Border-to-Border Broadband Grant Program. Chapter 189 (HF 2749*/SF 2356) is the
omnibus supplemental budget act and allocates $35 million dollars in fiscal year 2017 to the
Border-to-Border Broadband Grant Program. No more than $5 million may be used for
broadband grants to underserved areas. Up to $1 million may be used for administrative and
mapping costs by the Office of Broadband Development in the Department of Employment
and Economic Development (DEED). Funds in the amount of $500,000 may be awarded to
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areas with a significant proportion of low-income households. Low-income households are
households whose income is less than or equal to 200% of the most recent calculation of the
federal poverty guidelines, adjusted for family size. The commissioner of DEED is now
required to publish grant criteria and a scoring system the department will use to evaluate or
rank applications and award grants at least 30 days prior to the first day applications may be
submitted. Grant applicants must provide evidence they have written all entities providing
broadband service in the proposed project area to ask for each broadband service provider’s
plan to upgrade service in the project area to meet or exceed the state’s broadband goals
within the time frame of the proposed grant activities. Applicants must contact existing area
providers at least six weeks prior to submission of the grant application. Any responses
collected by the applicant must be submitted with application contents. Revisions to the law
also added a challenge period during which existing broadband providers may challenge the
grant award. The Office of Broadband Development must publish an application evaluation
report and update the state’s broadband deployment data and public maps. Projects
receiving grant funding are exempt from prevailing wage requirements. Finally, the new
broadband legislation updates the State’s broadband goals as follows:
o No later than 2022, all Minnesota businesses and homes have access to high-speed
broadband that provides minimum download speeds of at least 25 megabits per
second and minimum upload speeds of at least three megabits per second; and
o No later than 2026, all Minnesota businesses and homes have access to at least one
provider of broadband with download speeds of at least 100 megabits per second and
upload speeds of at least 20 megabits per second.
DEED Programs and Grants. Section 2, subdivision 2 of the omnibus supplemental
budget act (Chapter 189 (HF2749/SF2356)) contains several funding provisions in fiscal
year 2017 including:
o One-time reduction of $9 million for the Minnesota investment fund;
o One-time reduction of $11.5 million for the Minnesota job creation fund;
o $2 million for the redevelopment program;
o $600,000 grant for a city of the second class that is designated as an economically
depressed area for redevelopment, job creation, and economic development;
o $34,250,000 to DEED for grants for communities of color, people with disabilities,
senior, youth; and
o $300,000 for DEED’s Business and Community Development (workforce
development Fund)
Good Food Access Program. Article 2 of the omnibus supplemental budget act (Chapter
189 (HF2749/SF2356)) created a Good Food Access Program with the Department of
Agriculture. The program is intended to “increase availability and access to affordable,
nutritious, and culturally appropriate food, including fruits and vegetables, for underserved
communities in low-and moderate-income areas.” Several approaches are potentially
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eligible for assistance funding, including farmers markets, small grocery stores and small
food retailers. The program will provide state or private grants, loans or other types of
financial and technical assistance for the establishment, construction, expansion of
operations, or renovation of grocery stores and small food retailers. $250,000 was
appropriated for the program with the goal being that funds will be used to leverage other
forms of public and private financing for applicable projects. A number of requirements
must be met for applicants to receive financial or technical assistance from the program. An
advisory committee was created to administer the program.
Housing and Redevelopment Authorities. There were no changes to the Housing and
Redevelopment Authority Act, Minnesota Statutes, Sections 469.001 through 469.047.
Tax increment financing (TIF). There were no changes to the tax increment financing act,
Minnesota Statutes, Sections 469.174 through 469.1794.
Tax Abatement. There were no changes to tax abatement act, Minnesota Statutes, Sections
469.1813 through 469.1815.
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