Posted at: 10/24/2012 12:50 PM
Updated at: 10/24/2012 3:29 PM
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Email to a FriendState Report: Legislation To Create Jobs Spotty At Best
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Legislation to let local governments direct excess property tax dollars from tax-increment financing districts into other private developments was supposed to kick-start construction hiring in Minnesota. But an examination published Wednesday found evidence of job creation was spotty at best, even as many companies cashed in on the new law.
Finance & Commerce reports (http://bit.ly/Tg4ujl ) that Target Corp. even took a double-dip at taxpayers' expense last year. Brooklyn Park gave the discount retailer $2.5 million for its office campus expansion, and Inver Grove Heights gave $1.25 million to land a store.
The business newspaper found that 35 cities and other public entities used the 2010 legislation to funnel $35.9 million to 76 projects. But it also found that numbers on construction jobs were not kept for most of the projects.
