Commissioners to hold a meeting to set minimum requirements for business subsidies

The Cook County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, April 12, 2022, at 9:00 a.m. at the Cook County Courthouse in Grand Marais, Minnesota, to consider the adoption of criteria that set specific minimum requirements that recipients must meet to be eligible to receive business subsidies.

April 12 Public Hearing Regarding Business Subsidy Policy

The County Board will hold a public hearing at a board meeting on April 12 at 9:00 a.m. to consider a Business Subsidy Policy. A Business Subsidy Policy defines the minimum requirements that businesses must meet to be eligible to receive a Business Subsidy from the county. A Business Subsidy can be provided through Economic Development Tax Abatements, Tax Increment Financing or Revolving Loans. The criteria must include a specific wage floor for the wages paid for any jobs created. The wage floor may be stated as a specific dollar amount or a formula that will generate a dollar amount. It must also include the number of jobs created or retained and wage goals for any jobs to be enhanced through increased wages. The creation of the policy is a required step before the county can provide Economic Development Tax Abatements or any other type of Business Subsidy under state law. The requirement for a Business Subsidy Policy is found in M.S. 116J.993-995.

Previous actions:

*On June 22, 2021, the board approved an Economic Development Tax Abatement Policy based on M.S. 469.1813.

*On October 12, 2021, the county board held public hearings for the Economic Development Tax Abatement requests for the Tofte Downtown Buildings Proposal (BFB Management LLC) and Development and for the Sawbill Village Development (Red Five LLC).

*On October 26, 2021, the county board approved by resolution Economic Development Tax Abatements for both of the proposed projects in Tofte. The approvals are subject to final approval of a definitive Economic Development Agreement with each of the two businesses.

The next step before completion of the Economic Development Tax Abatement Agreements is approval of a Business Subsidy Policy.