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CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK <br /> when trying to save some costs is what our Police Department has done in terms of having a very <br /> specialized detective unit. Over the last three (3) years, we have gone from having roughly 1200 <br /> burglaries down to about eight-hundred(800)to the last couple. When you talk about a thirty-three <br /> percent (33%) decrease because you have a specialized force, that's people homes that are not <br /> getting broken into. That's less people spending time in our jails. Less insurance costs for the <br /> individual. If we have seen that in one (1) particular area, can we look at doing that with other <br /> things? We have had street crime that's more on the street force. Have we looked, instead, on <br /> having a more specialized detective unit inside the City?Just one(1)that focuses on violent crimes <br /> instead of waiting until there is a homicide. Maybe we can get to the issues at hand before it gets <br /> to a homicide before it happens, so we are not losing that human capital. That expands to the Fire <br /> Department as well. Typically,the Cities that have had the best performance have at least four(4) <br /> or five (5), sometimes it's more of an initial layout that we recoup those savings on the back end. <br /> Committee Chair White asked, Do we have anymore questions? If not, we will go back to Council <br /> to ask anymore questions. <br /> Committeemember Broden stated, I just have one (1)more, and I promise, that that is it. On your <br /> chart on revenue opportunities, you have one (1) of your boxes that says, continue to prioritize <br /> investment in Economic Development initiatives. I know several have talked about that. But it <br /> seems to me that it isn't an issue of prioritizing,it's actually possibly looking at refining projections <br /> on those and then evaluating those returns on investment and also communicating those returns on <br /> investment. There's what is presented to the Redevelopment Commission as kind of the proposal, <br /> right? But then there's a lot that comes in that follows in terms of development cost that we are all <br /> in on, but it may not show up on the cost side for the petitioner. So,just blowing up your slide a <br /> little bit more, or that actual component. Another element is there is a whole other body, locally, <br /> that I see and it's more in the private sector, but it's kind of quasi, is your redevelopment <br /> authorities. They have projects and have identified priorities and sometimes I don't think they <br /> align or match with ours maybe as Council, or overall as the City. And whether or not they match, <br /> I kind of think it's an interesting discussion, but let's say they go down one(1) lane and they have <br /> an expertise or preference for funding XYZ profiles. If we want to fund BCD, in other words, we <br /> carve out our redevelopment opportunities, specific as a City, to what our priorities and our own <br /> values are. <br /> Mr. Parker replied, Yes, absolutely. I think there is a lot in there I agree with. In terms of refining <br /> projections with economic development activities, there is a lot of work being done around that <br /> right now. In terms of finding specific, or almost specific, calculators to say if we make this <br /> investment, here is what we expect to improve in when it comes in income taxes invested in to the <br /> businesses there's a ton of work going into how we make those more actuate. They are right on <br /> for suggesting that in terms of what we need to improve on. I agree completely that we as the civil <br /> city should prioritize our values but also what are others doing and how we can complement what <br /> other investments are being made so we are not throwing money into the same thing. <br /> Commiteemember Broden stated, Just as a follow-up there's a report that came out of Ball State <br /> University (BSU) about Regional City dollars. If you read that report, it's a very interesting <br /> evaluation of whether the Regional Cities dollars are being used appropriately. I guess the question <br /> I think that we have to ask is, if you were to look at the profiles of those projects, do they meet, I <br /> would suspect there are some differences our values or the values that I am elected to represent I <br /> think?With regard to that BSU report,it's being used as the talking piece to actually open up more <br /> EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION I INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT <br /> 455 County-City Building 227W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 466011p 574.235.9221 if574.235.9173 TTD 574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov <br /> 20 <br />