Title
Requesting that the Citizens League convene a work group to study and make a recommendation on the implementation of a Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) and Services in Lieu of Taxes (SILOT) program for the City of Saint Paul.
Body
WHEREAS, the Supreme Court recently struck down much of the City of Saint Paul’s ability to raise revenue through its right-of-way assessment for providing city services, such as maintenance of streets, alleys, sidewalks, lighting and trees within city right-of-way; and
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul, as the Capitol City, has an unusually high percentage of tax exempt properties that provide valuable public benefit; and
WHEREAS, these tax exempt properties also consume public services, such as police and fire protection and street maintenance; and
WHEREAS, Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) and Service in Lieu of Taxes (SILOT) are means to compensate local governments for some or all of the tax revenue lost to tax exempt properties, through donations of money or services to local government, such as through contributions of research time;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Saint Paul City Council requests the Citizen League to convene a work group to study PILOT and SILOT and report their recommendations to the City Council in August, 2017; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that this study will answer the following questions:
1. Should the City consider implementing a PILOT or SILOT program?
2. What are the benefits and the risks?
3. If implemented, how might the City work with the non-profit community to encourage participation?
4. Which organizations would be asked to participate?
5. How would the amount of payment or type of service be determined?
6. What level of participation might the City expect and how much revenue might be raised?
7. Would the City account for expected PILOT revenue in its annual budgeting process? If so, how?
8. What is the expected impact on participation of continuing to assess non-p...
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