The Changing Economy

I've alluded to our changing economy before, but I wanted to devote a blog to what I see are future challenges we need to address as a community.  It will take a community discussion with many people to develop a strategy to ensure we're successful in the future.

More and more people purchase things online.  This affects a couple of things.  First, it reduces the need for brick and mortar stores.  Just look at Best Buy and the impacts on its business from Target and Wal-Mart - as well as Amazon.  In the future, retail footprints will change and as they do, so will the amount of commercial space needed.  This could potentially reduce the property value of these entities and decrease the amount of property tax revenue flowing into local government.  Crossroads Center, for example, is an incredibly large and incredibly important property taxpayer.  As a result, additional pressure will be put on industrial, agricultural, and residential property owners to fund services.  That added pressure may be significant, costly, and crippling.  This will impact our quality of life.

When people buy things online, they also typically avoid paying local sales tax.  This directly impacts us at the local level as our sales tax levy directly funds important projects like regional roads, the library, parks / trails, and the yet-to-be-built aquatic center.  If this trend continues, we will not meet projections that we've set.  That's money we've counted on being there.  This will impact our quality of life as well.

Now, there are opportunities.  Small, boutique shops have been successful in this economy.  As well, businesses like the iPod repair guy in downtown St. Cloud have filled a niche. 

Over the next decade, we must come to grips with these new realities and begin to plan for them.  Our economy has undergone significant changes throughout our country's existence.  It will continue to do so.  It is the job of elected officials and local leaders to begin recognizing those changes and adapting St. Cloud to them.  I don't pretend to have the answers to these challenges, but I believe we can meet them if we start discussing them now.