Ed Morrissey links to this article in the Star Tribune:
Though last year’s request for public dollars went nowhere, the Mall of America has an even bigger proposal for expansion using public subsidies.
This year, the megamall wants $181 million from state taxpayers to build an 8,000-space parking garage. That’s the centerpiece of a package of state and local subsidies worth about $234 million, money the Mall of America says it needs for a $1.9 billion expansion that would double its size.
Last year, state legislators didn’t vote on a measure that would have redirected more than $200 million of its future property tax bill toward construction. This time, the mall wants city and state taxpayers to share the burden.
In meetings with legislators, lobbyists representing the mall have insisted that taxpayers will more than earn back these subsidies through higher sales tax revenues, more jobs and extra tourism generated by an even larger megamall. The proposed expansion is known as Phase II.
It will include four hotels, an National Hockey League-size skating arena and a 6,000-seat performing arts center.
“As the biggest beneficiary of this economic development project, the state of Minnesota has the most to gain or lose if this project does not go forward,” Bloomington Mayor Gene Winstead and Bloomington Port Authority President Robert Erickson wrote in a Feb. 26 letter to lawmakers.
This is utterly ridiculous. The government should intervene as little as possible in the private sector. It’s great that the Mall of America wants to expand but this is how it works in business: if you want to expand, you’ve got to pay for it yourself.
Read more at my own blog.
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