Three St. Paul business centers are rejoining the city's tax rolls early.
Three Districts Return to Tax Rolls
According to the Pioneer Press, three St. Paul TIF districts are moving back onto the tax rolls early.
Great Northern Business Center Phase 1 is one of three St. Paul TIF districts moving back onto the tax rolls early.
Energy Lane Business Center
Energy Lane Business Center is one of three St. Paul TIF districts moving back onto the tax rolls early.
Great Northern Business Center Phase 2 is one of three St. Paul TIF districts moving back onto the tax rolls early.
How Tax-Increment Financing Works
Tax-increment financing districts affect how increased property-tax revenue from redevelopment is handled.
Decertification changes where the growth in property value goes: while a district is active, the added value is captured to finance eligible redevelopment costs; after it ends, that value returns to the tax base supporting city, county and school levies. Minnesota’s State Auditor also clarifies that TIF does not reduce the property taxes charged on a property’s full taxable value. The distinction matters because ending a district shifts the use of future tax growth, rather than erasing the underlying tax obligation. The State Auditor’s explanation of TIF lays out how that transition works.
Todd Hurley, president and chief executive officer of the St. Paul Port Authority, said TIF financing enabled the difficult work of cleaning up and preparing vacant and contaminated sites for redevelopment. He added that the three districts attracted jobs and tax base that would not have come without strategic public participation.
The Port Authority’s role extends beyond financing: it buys polluted or abandoned industrial properties that commercial developers may avoid, funds cleanup and prepares the land for reuse. It then sells marketable sites back to the commercial real estate community, sometimes for as little as $1, subject to workforce-agreement criteria. The authority says its business centers collectively house more than 500 companies and about 25,000 jobs, generating more than $12 million in annual tax revenue. Its brownfield redevelopment program describes that approach.
An Earlier Move Toward Decertification
The Port Authority previously moved to decertify Westminster Junction early. The district has 913 jobs.
The Port Authority acquires industrial property across St. Paul and resells it to developers to spur redevelopment.
How the City Defines TIF Districts
The city defines a TIF district as an area in which increased local taxes are captured to finance qualified developments, identifying five categories — redevelopment, housing, renewal and renovation, economic development and soils condition — and publishes an annual disclosure of its tax-increment districts.
Early decertification is allowed under Minnesota’s TIF rules, but districts also have limits on how long they can collect increments. Those limits vary by district type, and the State Auditor says they range from eight to 25 years after the first increment is received. A district may also have to end sooner under the “Six-Year Rule” when qualifying obligations can be paid, or when the development authority asks the county in writing to decertify it. State Auditor guidance on decertification details those routes.
