IGH Finances Stabilizing, Business Future Looks Bright

According to Tuesday's 2012 Business Town Hall Meeting the financial state of Inver Grove Heights is stabilizing. 

Hosted by Mayor George Tourville and City Administrator Joe Lynch, the presentation began by detailing the operating budget of the city—$17.79 million in 2012—and showing that the current budget is just 0.2 percent higher than that in 2011. 

Lynch then provided a chart of the city's total expenditures over the past three years, which were $34.88 million in 2010, $35.01 million in 2011 and $35.06 million this year. 

"We've tried to do a good job of keeping expenditures down," Lynch said. "We've seen less than a 0.5 percent increase over a two-year span." 

Property values in the city, however, do not appear quite as promising.  

In fact, the city's total property value—also called total taxable market value—decreased 5.4 percent in 2011, 2.3 percent in 2012 and is predicted to drop another 5 percent in 2013. 

Businesses in Inver Grove Heights have also seen their share of struggles over the past few years. 

The number of businesses and the number of jobs available in IGH have both decreased—albeit only slightly—between Q4 2010 and Q3 2011.

"The economy has had a significant impact on businesses in Inver Grove Heights," Tourville said.

That said, however, the business outlook for the future looks bright. 

Commercial/industrial construction has grown from $0 in 2010 to $6.68 million in 2011. Between the new Target Store and expansions to  and that number in 2012 will exceed $10 million.

For other businesses seeking to build, the IGH Economic Development Association in 2011 reconstituted its loan program for small businesses. Existing businesses can receive up to $25,000 toward expansion. 

Moreover, Mayor Tourville announced Target is scheduled to open its doors in mid-July and, by Dec. 1, three other sites adjacent to it will be completed and ready to build upon.

"There are multiple restaurants looking at the (sites). Ink is not on paper but there has been a lot of interest," Tourville said.