2022 Legislative Priorities CITY OF HOPKINS
Memorandum
To: Honorable Mayor and Council Members
From: Mike Mornson, City Manager
Date: February 8, 2022
Subject: 2022 Legislative Policy
_____________________________________________________________________
PURPOSE
Staff will present the 2022 Legislative Policy and other priorities.
INFORMATION
The legislative initiatives are reviewed every year in order to communicate the City’s
positions on issue that we would like the Legislature to address.
FUTURE ACTION
Information only.
ADMINISTRATION
City of Hopkins 2022 Legislative Policy
Affordable Housing
Production
• Establish a dedicated revenue for the production of affordable housing.
• Allow for an affordable housing fee on new development.
• Establish a Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) affordable housing fund and financial resources.
• Provide incentives for landlords to participate in the Section 8 Voucher Program.
Preservation
• Allow pooled Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to be deposited in Local Housing Trust Funds (LHTF) for affordable
housing.
• Establish a rental rehab program for small to medium size developments to preserve Naturally Occurring
Affordable Housing (NOAH) multi-family residential rental properties. Hopkins supports HF 443 and SF 768
appropriating $50M from the general fund to MN Housing to make loans or grants to owners of NOAH preser-
vation properties to acquire or rehabilitate NOAH properties at risk of increased rents and occupied by tenants at
risk of involuntary displacement.
• Continue support for GO Bonds for Public Housing to preserve aging assets.
• Maintain local regulatory authority for fee-for-service building inspections to ensure public safety and verify
compliance.
Protections
• 90-day tenant protection period prohibiting rent increases and non-renewals following the transfer of property
ownership.
• Support additional funding for emergency rental assistance payments as rent increases in our City and the impacts
of COVID-19 continue.
• Support the League of Minnesota Cities recommendation for a balanced approach that avoids
substantial tax shifts and a comprehensive study to address property tax impact of any 4d program expansion: SF
316 and HF 547 seek to expand the property tax benefits for low-income rental units by modifying the Low-Income
Rental Classification (4d) first tier class rate from .75% to .25%. These bills have been laid over for possible
inclusion in the omnibus tax bill.
Transport
• Increase flexibilty in funding for street maintenance, repairs and construction. Support legislation to allow street
improvement district authority.
• Support increasing the State’s Highway User Tax Distribution Fund. An increase is needed in order to increase
MSAS apportionments to meet required cost participation on State and County projects and maintain/repair state
aid eligible streets.
• Support stable and growing revenue sources to fund regional transit providers.
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General
• Preserve local control.
• Oppose the establishment of levy limits.
• Oppose reductions to local government aid.
• Advocate that a percentage of tax revenue generated by recreational marijuana (if approved by legislature) be
allocated to cities to cover law enforcement and mental health services.
• Increase funding to hire more officers to prevent crime in our community, while implementing continued outreach
and community building efforts.
• Increase funding to support the police cadet program to support a more diversified pool of candidates to become
police officers in our community.
• Continue the expansion of mental health support in our community with social workers to assist our public safety
department.
• Support the implementation of a statewide driver’s license system to accurately and privately gather and maintain
race/demographic information related to traffic stops.
Climate Action
• Implement a special assessment tool for energy/sustainability.
• Support efforts to encourage zero emissions vehicles/low emission vehicles (ZEV/LEV).
• Support funding for electric vehicle infrastructure.
• Support funding for environmental justice and areas most impacted by climate change.
Funding for Southwest Light Rail Transit
• Maximize benefits of Southwest Light Rail by providing funding for structured parking at the Shady Oak Station.
• Support the implementation of funding for transit improvement areas and authorize various funding mechanisms
for transit improvement areas including; tax increment financing, tax abatement, bonding, and general fund
appropriations for a revolving loan program or grant program.
Bonding Bill for Inflow and Infiltration
• Assist local communities in funding repairs and upgrades to local sewer infrastructure, including bonding bills for
this purpose.
Redevelopment Funding from Bonding Bill or DEED
• Support an increased, flexible and sustained Contamination Cleanup and Investigation Grant Program,
administered by DEED.
• Support an increased and sustained general fund and state bond funds for the Redevelopment Grant Program,
administered by DEED, dedicated to Metropolitan Area projects.
• Support expansion of existing tools or development of new funding mechanisms to correct unstable soils.
Tax Increment Financing (TIF)
• Oppose any statutory language that would further constrain or directly or indirectly reduce the effectiveness of TIF;
• Expand the flexibility of TIF to support a broader range of redevelopment projects;
• Increase the ability to pool increments from other districts to support projects;
• Support the creation of transit zones and transit related TIF districts to address development and redevelopment
issues associated with transit or transfer stations;
• Shift TIF redevelopment policy away from a focus on “blight” and “substandard” to “functionally obsolete” or a
focus on long range planning for a particular community, reduction in greenhouse gases or other criteria’s more
relevant current needs;
• Consider creating an inter-disciplinary TIF team to review local exception TIF proposals, using established criteria,
and make recommendations to the legislative on their passage
• Encourages the State Auditor to continue to work toward a more efficient and streamlined reporting process
For questions or more information, please contact alenz@hopkinsmn.com.
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