In a vote of 4-3, the St. Paul, City Council struck down a resolution on Wednesday that would have opposed creating a tax increment financing (TIF) district in the Midway neighborhood. The resolution involved the 24-acre area of what is currently Midway Center, a run down 70s shopping center which is slated for a makeover and surrounds the Minnesota United FC stadium which the team hopes to build.
As reported earlier this week, St. Paul Councilperson Rebecca Noecker, who represents Downtown St. Paul and some areas along West Seventh Street, submitted the resolution. Noecker voted for $18 million in infrastructure improvements around the stadium area that will also help the transit-oriented development of full 35-acre ‘superblock’ area into an urban village. She argued that the city had made enough investment in the area and didn’t want to allow the developers to make big profits using TIF.
The mayor’s office as well as council president Russ Stark argued against restricting the use of TIF, saying it’s a tool that may not be needed but shouldn’t be pulled off the table at this early stage.
Ward 1 councilman Dai Thao took the argument a step further and gave an impassioned speech saying Noecker’s Ward 2 has received $152 million in TIF. He also pointed out that the city was also looking for TIF in the redevelopment of the Highland Park Ford Plant site. He showed a map of extreme poverty in St. Paul which included Midway area.
“At the end of the day… we are in a position to dictate policy that can benefit everybody,” said Thao. “We are taking a tool [TIF] from an area that needs it the most – the community’s of color, folks that work two jobs. What this resolution does is perpetuate inequality in this city. The folks in downtown have benefited from this. What this resolution does is goes against that. Yeah, we have ‘the most livable city’ if you live in downtown, live in Highland [Park]. If we’re going to be against TIF, we should start in downtown, not in Midway. Not anywhere else…”
“For the folks who vote for this resolution, I respect your position but you’re not doing this for the people. You’re doing this for yourself.”
Councilpersons Prince and Bostrom also voted for the resolution. The two Eastside representatives also voted against the infrastructure improvements for the ‘superblock.’
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