04-23-18 Community Investment - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK Committeemember Davis stated, Alright, I'm at peace. Committee Chair Ferlic then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor of or in opposition to Bill No. 18-19. Sue Kesim, 4022 Kennedy Drive, stated, My issue is with abatements in general. As you know, I've looked at the budget. When you give the developer TIF money, that is taxpayer money and we expect to get that back in terms of taxes to refill the coffers. When I looked at the figures and you give TIF and then an abatement,things like the Health Department we just had here are getting underfunded. We can't have it both ways. When I looked at the figures on page two hundred and forty-four (244), the past ten (10) years the City of South Bend has given $868 million in abatements and we wonder why the budget is coming up short. I really implore both the City and County Councils to get out their calculators and really look at abatements. What you are saying is the tax payers don't have to be repaid and, as a taxpayer,that comes out of something somewhere. It comes out of the small persons home or business. So in general, I have to agree with Jamie O'Brien of the County Council that too much has been given away. You guys have to look at the total because it is staggering. It is not free money. It is money that comes out of paying for things that we need. You need to look at the totals. I sit in these meetings and boy, abatements, abatements, TIFs, TIFs, and then I hear we don't have enough money. Well, that is just my perspective of having gone through the budget last year and I want all of you to look at those figures. Will Smith, 728 Whitehall Drive, stated, I would like to speak in favor of this. Mr. Perri has been a part of the planning process for a very long time and seeing this project come to fruition is rather wonderful to see. I would echo Sue's comments that the process is confusing and I think the City could enhance that process. Thank you. James Mueller, Executive Director of Community Investment with offices on the 14th floor of the County-City Building, stated, We get into this discussion every time we bring an abatement. The abatements are on the incremental value that is being added. Many of these projects, given our market and other variables wouldn't be viable without these incentives. We are not talking about abated taxes on what we get because otherwise we would get nothing.Here,for six(6)years alone, we are getting roughly $1.5 million and after that the abatement is done and we get full taxes on the commercial portion too. This is new assessed value coming online that wouldn't be available otherwise.Particularly with the commercial element,if you left it to them and we weren't involved, they would probably have the parking on the ground floor and condos above. Here we are getting a real benefit for the City. Mr. Panzica stated, I would just like to add that when we bought this property it was with the intention that this building and property would be a pivotal site in the downtown. It had been dormant for twenty (20) years or more. What we do to this site will affect generations and will be around long after we are gone. The goal is to have a quality and level of development that will benefit the City and the future generations of the City. Could we have bought the site and made money building a three (3) story wood frame townhome? Yes and that would have been a gross underutilization of such a pristine parcel of land. So with the assistance of the City TIF and tax abatement, we are able to elevate the project to something that will help move the City and downtown forward. Long after Frank and I are gone, this building will be paying taxes into South Bend. This building will stand for hundreds of years and will pay property taxes down the road. EXCELLENCE I ACCOUNTABILITY I INNOVATION I INCLUSION I EMPOWERMENT 455 County-City Building 227W Jefferson Bvld I South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.92211 f574.235.9173I TTD574.235.55671www.southbendin.gov 6