Shakopee is an entertainment destination and something we are vey proud of and fully support. Millions of people come to our city to experience what no other Minnesota city can offer. We actively support our entertainment industry and look for creative way to assist in their efforts. If they are successful, we as a city are successful.

It is important however to realize that a small percentage of those who come to experience our entertainment venues also become involved with our emergency services providers and our police department in less than ideal circumstances. Those interactions come at a cost.

Since early in 2019, the City of Shakopee has been tracking our resident versus non-resident in custody arrests as a way to judge the impact of our entertainment venues upon city taxpayers. The results typically show that approximately 70 to 75% of all interactions are from individuals who are not from Shakopee. Interestingly enough, during the COVID lockdown when our entertainment venues were shuttered, that trend was reversed as the majority of arrests were from Shakopee. In addition, our large entertainment venues typically are in the top five of locations for calls for service when they are open.

Because of this, a legitimate question has been raised regarding the appropriateness of charging property owners for the full cost of our police and emergency services. Clearly there is a correlation between those costs and those who visit our entertainment venues, and as such staff would like the opportunity to explore a entertainment surcharge to help offset those expenses.

Any action that we would take to enact a surcharge on entertainment venues would have to be approved by the state legislature. As such, we would like the opportunity to enlist a lobbyist to help in presenting a case for why there should be some property tax relief provided through an entertainment tax for emergency/police services.

There is no preconceived notion as to what would be an appropriate number for such a tax. In reality, staff is not sure at this point what would be politically feasible. It is staff’s intention to work with our large entertainment venues to find an appropriate fee. Again, if they are not successful. We are not successful. However, one thing is clear, this can be done with minimal impact to our entertainment venues. People do not make choices whether to attend an event based upon a small additional ticket charge.

In addition to a ticket tax review, we would also look to have the lobby firm assist us with the passage of special legislation that would encourage private-sector development of a former gravel pit through the creation of a soil deficiency tax increment financing district legislation for the site.

The firm of Lockridge Grindal Nauen (LGN) is recognized as a leader in assisting clients to cultivate influence with prime decision makers. They also have experience in the type of actions we are looking to move forward. Their proposal and team bios are attached.