Discussion:
The Shakopee EDA levies their own separate tax, which is not part of the city's general property tax levy, and is identified separately on property tax statements. The EDA levy is subject to to a limit of of 0.0185 percent of the city's estimated market value. The EDA levy cap for 2024 is $1,334,915. The EDA levy is applied to all taxable properties within the city including properties that are currently part of a tax abatement or tax increment plan.
The EDA levy is proposed at $500,000 which is no change from the previous levy. The EDA levy is specifically designated for economic development activities and any funds unspent from year to year will remain in this fund for this purpose.
For the median value home value at $334,400, if the proposed levy of $500,000 is approved the annual property taxes on the median value home would be approximately $19. This is about a $1 less than taxes paid on the 2023 median value home of $346,500.
The proposed final levy has not changed from the preliminary levy set in September. Similar to the city's levy, the final levy can be reduced, but cannot be increased. If approved by the EDA, the levy will be forwarded to City Council for approval on December 19, 2023.
Attached is the 2024 preliminary EDA budget and the 2024 preliminary River City Centre budget. River City Centre operations are accounted for under a separate sub-fund of the EDA.
The preliminary EDA budget includes revenues from the property tax levy, $300k from Shakopee Public Utilities (SPU) based on the payment in lieu of taxes agreement and $29k in general admissions related to EDA's TAP event. Expenditures include $239k for wages and benefits which includes the Economic Development Coordinator plus a half of the Planning & Development Director's time. The EDA budget also includes $25k for legal services, $50k for engineering, $150k for potential undergrounding electric lines along Eagle Creek, and $281k in professional services ($70k for facade loan requests/$91k for continued entrepreneurship programming/$25k for Main Street Programming/$30k for TAP event/$15 for marketing/$50k miscellaneous consulting).
The River City Centre budget includes estimated tenant revenues of $406k and a positive net income of $190k. Revenue amounts are best estimates and will be impacted by renewals or turnover.
The EDA (including River City Centre) had a cash balance at the end of 2022 of $619k. Current year activity includes the 2023 budgeted operations, as well as the sale of land for the amphitheater and River City Centre improvements. It is anticipated that there will be a minimal balance remaining to be carried forward into 2024.