06-23-08 Common Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING JUNE 23, 2008 in this community, that not how he defines failure. Certainly, there is more room yet to expand and grow and look for additional private investment and additional new jobs in that area as they move forward. He stated that they will continue to do that, the benefits are that the new property taxes are captures within the TIF area to allow the City to invest in infrastructure. If they did not have that revenue stream then they would have to be taking money from the general fund from other operations of the city to be able to put infrastructure in place to support business growth and development. Those are dollars that they don’t have. TIF’s were created to spur jobs and economic development in the community and have been very successful all across the state. Thirdly, the City is on the cusp of a change because of HB 1001, so there are old paradigms and new paradigms. Under the old paradigm it is accurate to say that the dollars collected in the TIF district cause other peoples property taxes to be a little higher to support the general services of government. Because of the property tax caps that are coming into place now, that is really not the case anymore. Mayor Luecke stated that he agrees and supports the opportunity to use some of these dollars to help to pay for Police and Fire provision of services to those areas. This is not currently allowable under state law. He would be glad to work with the Council to see if that could be an option that could become available to the City. Also there was the suggestion that the few businesses that located in Blackthorn once they get there tax abatements they leave the community. Mayor Luecke stated that there have been a couple of businesses that have failed or been bought by another company that have left. But for the most part, in fact, the businesses that have received tax abatements have stayed and continued to support jobs in the community. Those jobs, in addition to the investment in the buildings that create property taxes, those jobs create local income taxes that go to support South Bend and St. Joseph County as well. So, they are looking to try to spur development and believe that there is a great opportunity for that to happen in the Portage Prairie area. Mayor Luecke stated that he appreciated the investment that Mr. Zmyslo made in the City of South Bend, but somebody did put that street in place in front of your business prior to your business being there. Cities do invest in infrastructure that supports business and TIF districts are one of the ways that they are allowed to do that. He urged the Council’s favorable action on this bill tonight. Mr. Perri stated that Holladay has been the benefactor of a lot of tax abatements, but to this day, they have all most burned off at this point. Last year, they paid 1.5 million dollars in property taxes. He stated that they are not here for a free lunch; they are here to do what they need to do. This is the success of TIF’s working and because of the Airport Economic Development Area’s success; Holladay has built over a million square feet in that area already. Mr. Perri stated that it is a very competitive market and the hook has to be bait. He stated that it makes a world of difference if you fish with the right bait. The fish are biting, they don’t always bite, and then they have to bait the hook. He stated that is the way that it has always been; he doesn’t know if that is ever going to change. He stated that he doesn’t want government to have to do more than they already do. He stated that he is all for private business investing and thinks that everyone’s taxes ultimately go down as a result of this kind of investment. Councilmember Henry Davis stated that he has asked many questions on this bill. He stated that this TIF area is in a major part of his district. He stated that comparing South Bend to Mishawaka in an insult. South Bend holds and will forever continue to hold the base around this area. Mishawaka survives because of South Bend. South Bend residents spend their money in Mishawaka because of the retail services that are provided there. He stated that it is a complete misnomer to compare South Bend to Mishawaka. He stated that if needs a pair of tennis shoes he is going to go out to Mishawaka to go buy a pair of tennis shoes, because he cannot go anywhere in South Bend to find a pair of tennis shoes. So in saying that there are more people than just himself in spending their money out there in Mishawaka, he finds it really bad that the Council is not focusing their intentions on job creation. How can you create jobs when you don’t have people to work the jobs. There is a very large problem with vagrancy, the homeless population, mental illness, and who is going to come in and employ these people when they are dependent on the system. He stated that there are so many different issues that they discuss and vote on and he finds it very difficult to find in his right mind to vote for such an important decision. He stated that he is not saying that it is not a good project, he thinks that 32