04-25-2022 Common Council Meeting Minutes (Signed)

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REGULAR MEETING April 25, 2022 Councilmember Hamann inquires about the fifty-three (53) unique properties owners; how many are residentials? Tim Corcoran responds very few. Councilmember Hamann asks if there is potential for property taxes to have people leave their homes. Tim Corcoran responds with being in the TIFF district does not affect one's taxes. The development that comes is what may change the tax value. The developments are happening now without any assistance from the city or being within TIFF. The reason we are doing this is to capture that value so that we can use that incremental revenue to help with projects that may be associated with some of the developments that are happening anyway. Venice Street has a lot of issues without a sidewalk or curb down parts of it. The intersection of South Bend Ave and Charles St. is very wide, we want to narrow because The Irish Quarter Development plans on having a restaurant and a cafe. The incremental revenue helps up look at the infrastructure improvements. Add revenue to the entire River East TIFF area that we can use in other areas. Councilmember Hamann asks who makes decisions as to how this TIFF money is spent? Tim Corcoran responds, the Redevelopment Commission, part of the land use in place is what is legally able to be done right now. Rezoning in the future. The area in orange has interest. Adjusting the TIF allows us to capture the revenue to use in this area and rest of the River East TIF area. Councilmember Lee asks to explain what a tax increment financial district is for the public. Tim Corcoran responds when a TIF is overlaid across the part of the city, when the new development happens within the district, the incremental growth in taxes goes back to a fund. The taxes that are happening right now continue to go to the other taxing agents like the county, the school Corp, Transpo, and the library. When new development happens, the increment of taxes that are above today gets captured in a fund to allow us to invest in public improvements. In this case all the River East TIF district. Councilmember Lee states, if we don't expand this and new development happens then we miss out on the opportunity to receive the revenue. The people who benefited from this already are the county, schools, library, Transpo. By us expanding, it is getting ahead of what's getting ready to happen. If people develop in that area and the taxes go up, that money goes back to further development in that area. If we don't do this now, we miss out on that opportunity of that incremental income. Tim Corcoran responds with we missed out on the newly generated tax revenue. We have used that revenue again for local improvements like Howard Park that helps pay the bond off for Howard Park. We have Site Park that will be starting construction towards the end of the year. Streetscape projects is typically how we use the majority of our TIF funds. Councilmember Lee states it is important for us to understand that because we get ahead of it, as the redevelopment happens, we got the opportunity to capture that revenue to make the area better. Councilmember Davis states the new dollar only stays in that area until the money in that Tiff District sets. The money won't be shared with the rest of South Bend. We never miss out on the opportunity for anything, we just actually double up the redevelopment of that area. When we talk about Eddy Street Commons, and how the city invested close to three hundred million dollars in infrastructure dollars, that money never returned to the taxpayers and the citizens of that area stayed in that one area while the area continues to reproduce more dollars to redevelop more and more to provide great services to that area. The taxpayers from the West side of the city that help produce that is night and day. There is a disadvantage and there is also an advantage of a TIF district. We need to be clear that TIF districts don't always pan out the way we desire them to do because somebody must make the initial investment for that to happen. If you make the initial investment for something to happen, you want something back. You don't get anything back from that, it stays here. 12