01-14-19 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING January 14, 2019 And so, I think the main thing is, at the very beginning of the year, I would like to see an overall, comprehensive view on our starting point. Where are we on TIF? We are at thirty-five percent (35%)on TIF in South Bend,thirty-nine percent(39%)in Mishawaka. A comprehensive report on all the debt and debt service because that is going to affect our cash reserves, our principal and interest together we have to pay every year. Where we are on CSO, which Councilmember Davis mentioned. A running total of abatements, how many abatements you've given and what that means and if you're going to set a limit on that. When I was at the Park Board meeting, Aaron Perri mentioned the Parks will be out of money in two (2) years and the bonds will be used up. That needs to be considered because the citizens will be paying on those bonds for the next twenty (20) years but the money will be gone in two (2) years. I would also like to see a starting point on where we are on roads. I think I brought up that we had fifty (50) to eighty (80) lane miles that were unattended to last year. I think we need to start with infrastructure and make that a priority. We need to see exactly from Eric how many roads are critical and the different levels. We need to know where we are with curbs and sidewalks. And then I think it's really important in terms of infrastructure,when I went to the budget hearings, Eric's budget for infrastructure had a$9 million deficit. I think we need to change the priority to make sure he is well funded. Overall, we will be hitting the circuit breaker in 2020 and that means the whole County. I think everyone needs to be on the same page,especially since South Bend has thirty-five percent(35%)in TIF and Mishawaka has thirty-nine percent (39%), we're going to be hitting that wall real soon. I think all the municipalities, and the County,need a comprehensive report on all the debt, all the TIF and know where we are. That 2020 is less than a year away. Thank you very much and I appreciate all Councilmember White's work on the budget. Fourteen (14) budget hearings we trudged through together. I know I had a ton of questions and I appreciate you working on that. Vice President Karen White stated, Part of the Personnel and Finance report, questions were attached. We actually started the process for the 2019 budget in December 2018 and started talking about TIF. We will have a series and the next meeting will be on the fiscal cliff. We are starting the process much earlier. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Council, President Tim Scott adjourned the meeting at 9:41 p.m. 27