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REGULAR MEETING September 10, 2018 <br /> Councilmember Broden explained, I think that your presentation this afternoon went a long way, <br /> as well as the individual petitioners talking about the delays that they've encountered. I think that <br /> helps all of us,not just the folks sitting up here,but the folks we represent. They need to understand <br /> and want to understand these issues and what are the challenges. Thank you for the presentation. <br /> I appreciate the earlier discussions on this and look forward to streamlining and figuring out where <br /> the information gaps are, not just in the Assessor's office. The forms are going out by law, and if <br /> the forms aren't getting there, they should be returned to the Assessor. I also would like to know <br /> where there is any wiggle room within the annual assessment process, and what information we <br /> could feed into this really critical January 1 st date, whether it's the building plans, or the <br /> investment to date. If the project is partially completed or fully completed, we've got a better <br /> understanding of that and it should actually be reflected in the paperwork. I am really eager to <br /> look at the change in policy and the process that mitigates it. I don't want to just jump reflexively <br /> to a four (4) year designation period, because I think there is something about the two (2) year <br /> period. That conversation and what the give and take on that would be, will be an interesting one <br /> (1) to be part of. <br /> Councilmember Teshka stated, Thank you for clarifying that the abatements are on the increase. <br /> Do you have the slides from the presentation that you did back in December with a really simple <br /> graphic? That would be helpful. <br /> Mr. Mueller stated, I don't know that we have the graphic. <br /> Councilmember Teshka stated, I will use that graphic moving forward when talking about tax <br /> abatements. <br /> Mr. Mueller clarified, The graphic was on TIFs, but it is similar. <br /> Councilmember Teshka agreed and asked, Are the numbers in the modified designation periods <br /> the total numbers? If two (2) years already lapsed, then we are adding three (3) more years for a <br /> total of five (5) years? <br /> Mr. Mueller stated, That is correct. <br /> Councilmember Davis asked,We are not the only City in the State of Indiana that uses abatements. <br /> What have been the best practices that you have gathered from other cities when they've had these <br /> situations? How do they handle these matters? <br /> Mr.Mueller stated,We can certainly look into it more. There are different markets, so Indianapolis <br /> has a different market structure than we do. We could look at more comparable cities. We know <br /> what Mishawaka does, for example. In December's presentation we looked through a couple of <br /> cases. We can bring that back up and show you. <br /> Councilmember Davis stated, What do they do when they have these kinds of challenges? <br /> Mr. Mueller answered, Legally, the resolutions have to be amended if that's what's in the <br /> resolutions. Whether they started out with longer designation periods originally, we can look at <br /> different cases. Once we start with the two (2) year period, if that's not working for us, we have <br /> to come back with this mechanism. <br /> Councilmember Davis asked, Did you look at any other cities in the State of Indiana to see how <br /> they handle these kind of best practices? <br /> Mr. Mueller answered, We have not done a comprehensive look. <br /> Councilmember Teshka asked, I believe we talked about this briefly in committee, but can your <br /> office work more directly with the County Assessor's office to make sure that these assessments <br /> are happening on a priority basis? Because we have this phase in in place, can we make sure that <br /> we're doing those more quickly. <br /> Mr. Mueller stated,Absolutely. We think there are two (2)key places where we can work with the <br /> Assessor's office from our end. One (1) is to make sure that all of these properties that have tax <br /> abatements are flagged, that could be as simple as forwarding the annual tax abatement report to <br /> make sure they have it in their records. The second (2nd) piece is if we're able to get them <br /> construction cost estimates from either the building design or what have you so they have some <br /> basis to work off of before having to reinvent the wheel. <br /> 8 <br />