Rochester will see an extra $2.68 million for infrastructure spending in September if a recent report on private investment in Destination Medical Center projects is approved.
With the first $200 million in private investment documented, DMC efforts are set to see state funding start flowing with each additional dollar of investment.
That means the city will receive $2.75 for each $100 spent beyond the $200 million. In the case of the report approved by the DMC Corp. executive committee on Thursday, this year's funding is expected to be based on an additional $97.7 million in private investment.
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development has until Aug. 1 to verify the DMC report, according to Patrick Seeb, DMC's Economic Development Agency's director of economic development and placemaking. At that point, a check will be sent to the city.
The Rochester City Council and DMCC board will determine how the funds are spent on public infrastructure within the DMC footprint, which encompasses the Mayo Clinic campus and much of downtown, as well as Second Street Southwest as it stretches past Saint Marys Hospital.
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The funding will be the first of 20 annual state checks expected to help fund public infrastructure, which could include transportation efforts and public space redesigns.
If the report is approved as submitted, the city will see at least $2.68 million each year for two decades. Additional funding will occur each year with new reports of private investment, which Doug Holtan, vice chairman of Mayo Clinic's department of facilities and support services, said already is underway.
Holtan said an additional $230 million in Saint Marys Hospital investment already has been announced.
"So there's a lot of projects to come for the years ahead at Saint Marys," he said after highlighting $88 million in work completed last year.
Additionally, Lisa Clarke, executive director of the DMC EDA, said other numbers continue to grow, noting 14 projects in various stages are expected to add more than $700 million in private investment in coming years.
Olmsted County Commissioner Jim Bier, who serves as the DMCC board treasurer, said it all works with the the unique DMC funding model to ensure the state makes a good investment
"This is a different way of doing things," he said. "The private has come first, before the public investment. Generally the way government has worked in the past is people come, they want some government money and then maybe we get some private investment."
The next full meeting of the DMCC board is at 9:30 a.m. April 27 in Suite 111 of the Mayo Civic Center, 30 Civic Center Drive SE.
