Ramsey County Environmental Response Fund Impact Study

Abstract

This project was completed as part of the 2018-2019 Resilient Communities Project (rcp.umn.edu) partnership with Ramsey County. Ramsey County collects a small percentage of the mortgage registry and deed tax to help fund the clean-up of contaminated land. This Environmental Response Fund (ERF) is leveraged with private investment and other public funding for redevelopment projects within the county. Since the program’s inception, 22 projects have received $5.7 million in funding and 200 acres have been remediated. Although the fund has been successful in cleaning up brownfields, little was known about the broader outcomes of the redevelopment projects completed after 2012, the last time an impact assessment was undertaken. Ramsey County Project Lead Mary Lou Egan worked with students in the Economic Development Fellows Consulting Program to evaluate the impact of ERF projects in terms of public and private investment leveraged, tax revenue generated, and jobs and housing units generated, and identified ways to strengthen and improve the program going forward. The students' final report and a poster summarizing the project are available.