Laserfiche WebLink
REGULAR MEETINGNOVEMBER 27, 2006 <br />increase. He believes that the number for ’07 that will go towards the Hall is $507,000. <br />The reason that money is going towards the hall, is that back in 1994, there was a State <br />Law that was passed, that increased the tax from 5% to 6%. State Law provides that the <br />hotel/motel tax board sets the budget for these hotel/motel tax dollars. The County <br />Council approves it. The City Council is a pass through; they appropriate the dollars <br />directly to the hall as the last and third step to that process. In order for the hall to get <br />approval for these budgeted items through the hotel/motel tax board, there are hearings <br />public hearings and the dollars that are spent have to be justified to that board. There is <br />oversight from the County Council and final oversight from this Council. This $507,000 <br />out of this $600,000 that the interim agreement provides for public subsidy is the lion <br />share of the public subsidy. It will indicate that the PSDF dollars will continue to <br />decrease and Mr. Nussbaum’s prediction in year three there will not be and PSDF dollars <br />that are going towards the operations of the hall. There will be an opportunity to <br />continue to use PSDF dollars for the capital needs of the hall, mainly to keep it as a first <br />class facility. So that people will continue to come back and things will not get stale. <br />With regard to PSDF dollars, those dollars come from income taxes, and sales taxes that <br />are generated from certain facilities including the hall, Century Center, Coveleski <br />Stadium, Studebaker National Museum, and the Palais. Otherwise, those dollars would <br />go down state and we would not have any access to them. So they are captured here and <br />stay here. One of the interesting aspects of that is that something that is not really well <br />known is the fact that the Hall itself contributes PSDF dollars by virtue of income taxes <br />that are generated as well as state income taxes as well as the sales that are made. So the <br />Hall does contribute to those PSDF dollars. Finally, with regard to the establishment of <br />the capital reserve account, the model that he thinks that has been very successful in this <br />community has been Coveleski Stadium. With a stadium that is now 20 years old. It has <br />been kept up and is one of the premier facilities in the Nation. This was done because <br />foresight for a capital reserve fund was put in place. There have been no property tax <br />dollars that have been used for Coveleski Stadium for well over 10 years, once it was <br />paid for. Because the City made that commitment to the Capital Investment Fund. The <br />same commitment is being made here for the hall, and that is a very valuable part of this <br />interim agreement. Mr. Nussbaum thanked the Council for their hard work in this regard, <br />he appreciates the support that the Council is giving to the interim agreements and look <br />forward to any contributions that he can make in the future, be it to come in and explain <br />things or to help negotiate new agreements in the future. He will admit and agreement <br />with Councilmember Varner that one of those things that we need to work for is the <br />establishment of an endowment that is raised by the NFF so that the public subsidy can <br />be decreased even further. He is in complete agreement with that; he thinks that is <br />something that we should work for in the future. He believes that they have made steps <br />significant steps with these two interim agreements these agreements are significantly <br />better than the original agreements and asks the Council for their favorable support. <br />There was no one else present wishing to speak in favor of this bill and there was no one <br />present wishing to speak in opposition to this bill. <br />Councilmember Pfeifer made a motion to adopt this Resolution. Councilmember Dieter <br />seconded the motion which carried and the Resolution was adopted by a roll call vote of <br />nine (9) ayes. <br />RESOLUTION NO. 3673-06 A RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL <br /> OF THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, <br /> AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO SUBMIT AN <br /> APPLICATION TO THE UNITED STATES <br /> ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY <br /> FOR A BROWNFIELD ASSESSMENT GRANT <br /> WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has financial <br />assistance for brownfield revitalization, including grants for site assessments; and <br /> WHEREAS, the City of South Bend previously received an assessment grant but <br />needs additional funding in order to continue the programs; and <br />36 <br /> <br />