During an evening press conference, Gov. Mark Dayton and DFL legislative leaders agreed that Mayo Clinic's Destination Medical Center plan will be part of the final tax bill.
The project's status was thrown into question early today when House Taxes Committee Chairwoman Ann Lenczewski voiced frustration over the amount of time being spent trying to reach a final deal and warned if a deal wasn't reached soon she was willing to wait until next year to do it.
House bill author Kim Norton, DFL-Rochester, said the House and Senate have come up with their final offer. It's now up to Mayo to decide if they want to accept it. She said she knows Mayo is disappointed that the plan isn't what they had originally envisioned and gives them less control than they want, but she said that overall, it's a good deal. That plan includes about $400 million in state money for public infrastructure upgrades to support Mayo's planned expansion of its Rochester campus. The city would chip in $128 million with the county expected to contribute roughly $40 million for transportation costs.
"This is the best we can get out of the session. It has every penny they asked for in it, it has the privacy they asked for for their work and development and it has the oversight that the community wants," Norton said.
