Counterpoint: Critique of water park is all wet

The March 16 opinion piece about Mall of America's water park ("Taxpayers take a bath on water park deal") does not hold water.

I have long respected both Art Rolnick and Mike Meyers, but I was very disappointed with their flawed analysis. I was equally disappointed that while they were happy to quote me, they did not reach out to hear the Bloomington side of the story.

The facts are that Bloomington has a long history of making bold decisions. When faced with an empty Met Stadium in the late 1970s, Bloomington leaders considered their options and seized on the bold vision for that site — the grand venture that is Mall of America (MOA). It has grown and evolved even as retailing and traditional malls have faced challenges. MOA is thriving today.

And beyond MOA itself, the growth of Bloomington's economy over the past 30 years is vindication that the bold decision was the right one. Unique amenities in and around MOA, including now the proposed water park at MOA, continue to pay dividends by attracting many new businesses, hotels and restaurants to entertain and service our large number of visitors.

Hospitality is the largest industry in Bloomington and, when combined with MOA, makes up more than 20% of the city's revenue. A healthy and thriving hospitality industry significantly reduces the overall tax burden for Bloomington residents and businesses. The vitality in our South Loop District has, in fact, been essential to the city's ability to successfully attract other businesses to diversify our economic base.

We believe Bloomington has one of the strongest economic development track records in the region. And our strength in hospitality has been essential to the overall metropolitan area's ability to attract events like the Super Bowl, the Ryder Cup, and the Women's Final Four that will be here in just a few weeks. We are proud to be a regional partner.

The proposed water park will be a regional amenity that will be visited by people from all over and bring tax dollars to the area. The project would be the largest indoor water park in North America, a Disney-level attraction that will see about 1 million visitors annually.

Let me correct what has been mischaracterized as a risk of the project. This water park will be privately financed. If for some reason the water park does not go as planned, Bloomington taxpayers will not be on the hook.

But large projects like this often need subsidy. In fact, look no further than Great Wolf, which built another of its water parks in Garden Grove, Calif., smack in the middle of the highly competitive Southern California hospitality and tourism industry. There, Great Wolf asked for and received a $100 million public investment to make its $250 million dollar project pencil out. And it has been a success: The Great Wolf property in Garden Grove is among the city's top tax generators.

The approval by the Bloomington City Council and Port Authority on March 9, 2022, provides the proposed project a subsidy in the form of tax increment financing (TIF). TIF funds are property tax dollars generated by the project itself. Rolnick and Meyers disingenuously state that more than $100 million will go toward the water park. In fact, the lion's share of the TIF funding will go to public improvements that are traditionally funded by TIF, including items such as roads, infrastructure and parking. TIF investment in Minnesota has been a way to get projects done that would not happen otherwise. Despite some economists disagreeing with the practice, history has shown those investments are good for Minnesota.

We are thoughtful about these bold decisions and have had tremendous success, which explains why the City Council and Port Authority of Bloomington have decided to help the water park project move forward. We will continue to be open to innovative ways to ensure that our strong hospitality sector can be a vibrant partner for the entire state of Minnesota.