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NEW BRIGHTON H.R.A. <br />(What, Why and Where?) <br />And You Toole <br />WHAT? H.R.A. stands for Housing and Redevelopment Authority. The New <br />New Brighton ki.R.A., appointed by Mayor Bromander, is made up of the <br />following men: Chairman Richard Daniels, Donald A. Anderson, Eugene <br />Fisher, Paul W. Rebelein, and Edward Wickland. They meet the first <br />Tuesday of each month at City Hall. <br />The professional consultant is Kermit Crouch of Hodne./Stageberg, <br />The Partners. <br />In addition, there is a citizens task force, which meets the thitd <br />Monday of each month at the office of the Chairman, Dr. Andrew Kollar, <br />across from City Hall. All meetings are open to the public. <br />WHY? The H.R.A. was formed because the City Council felt that the origi- <br />nal downtown New Brighton around City Hall was in a state of disrepair <br />and general decay. The H.R.A. was formed in 1974 to hire a professional <br />consultant and work with him to create a plan to improve and upgrade the <br />area, possibly over a period of several years. <br />The H.R.A. has a great deal of power. After performing all of the <br />necessary legal steps, it can, subject to the approval of the City Council, <br />acquire property by direct purchase or condemnation, issue general revenue <br />bonds, create a Tax Increment District, and redevelop an area...all with- <br />out <br />ithout a general referendum. <br />A Tax 'Increment District, very simply, works like this. Assume a <br />family owns an old building somewhere in the area and currently pays taxes <br />of $500 on the property, which according to law are divided so that the <br />City, the County, the State, and the School District all get their pro- <br />portionate share. The H.R.A. determines the property to be in the rede- <br />velopment district, files a formal notice to freeze the taxes, acquires <br />the property from the owners using money from the sale of bonds, removes <br />the building, and sells the lot to a private developer. The developer <br />then erects a new building according to the redevelopment plan and may <br />rent out space'in it. Finally, the taxes are increased, for example, to <br />$2,500 a year. But the County, the School District, and the State still <br />only get their proportionate share of the original $500; and the II.R.A. <br />gets the remaining $2,000 a year until it has paid back its investment <br />on the bonds. <br />At present, there are no state or <br />opment; however, if the system works <br />can be accomplished without any cost <br />federal funds available for redevel <br />properly, the entire redevelopment <br />to the New Brighton taxpayers. <br />WHERE? At this time, the H.R.A. has defined a study area shown on the enclosed <br />map of approximately 400 acres. <br />Although the original intention was to develop "downtown proper" <br />(around*City Hall and to the south on Old Highway 8), the professional <br />consultant and an economic consultant have stated that they feel that <br />redevelopment of the downtown area is economically impossible without <br />improving the tax base, possibly be attracting new industry and new <br />housing. In short, we need more tax revenue and more people to attract <br />new business and upgrade existing business in downtown. <br />