08-25-08 Common Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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REGULAR MEETING AUGUST 25, 2008 SECTION VII. This Resolution shall be in full force and effect from and after its adoption by the Common Council and approval by the Mayor. s/Timothy A. Rouse Member of the Common Council Councilmember Dieter, Chairperson, Community & Economic Development Committee, reported that this committee held a public hearing to hear the pros and cons on these bills this afternoon and voted to send them to the full Council with a favorable recommendation. st Mr. Philip J. Faccenda, Jr., Barnes & Thornburg, LLP 600 1 Source Bank Center, 100 North Michigan, South Bend, Indiana, made the presentation on the bills. Mr. Faccenda advised that on behalf of the University of Notre Dame Du Lac, they would like to clarify some of the Council’s questions regarding the petition for personal property tax abatement for future tenants of the Innovation Park at Notre Dame. Mr. Faccenda stated that it is anticipated that many of the future tenants of the Innovation Park will be small, start-up technology companies that will be encouraged to move to the Park from other locations throughout the country. It is also anticipated that some of these companies will have research and development equipment that they will be bringing with them. As such companies are searching for different sites throughout the country in which to locate, it is the desire of the University to provide such companies with the incentive of an existing tax abatement as a means of motivating such companies to locate in South Bend. Also, the tax abatement will have the additional benefit of providing these start-up companies with lower operating costs during the initial phases of their operations, thereby helping to ensure their success. The Innovation Park does not intent to serve as a long-term landlord for start-up companies, but instead, to facilitate such companies to move from a start-up phase to an established business. These companies will be moved out of the Park when they become better established. When these companies move out of the Innovation Park, the equipment that they take with them will no longer be subject to the tax abatement, unless (a) such equipment is relocated to an economic revitalization area that has been approved by the Common Council, and (b) the Common Council consents to the relocation of and continued abatement for such equipment. Mr. Faccenda asked the Council for their favorable consideration. A Public Hearing was held on the Resolution at this time. City Clerk John Voorde read into the record a letter from Councilmember Henry Davis, Jr.: Hello to all... I am currently in Denver for the DNC. I regret that I cannot be in attendance for today's meetings but I have a few concerns. After a trip to Notre Dame Friday with a few other council members I came to understand that Notre Dame's commitment to our tax base or South Bend’s growth is not clear. A question was asked about Notre Dame’s commitment to our city and we never got an answer. I hope in the near future their commitment will be more than volunteer services and a homeless shelter and we will be able to sit with them to document our true commitment to each other. I hope that Notre Dame will invest dollars into our city's budget for the fire and police services that they use on a daily basis. My heart leads me to vote NO to any tax abatement for Innovation Park. We are on the brink of cutting well paying jobs for civil servants with families who have small children. These servants are depended upon by their families to 'bring home the bacon'. Our city needs a huge financial blessing now and not in 5-10 years. Notre Dame is working on a $500 million project that appears to be well underway and completely financed. I will not feel good about giving anyone else a tax abatement with the fear of cutting city services. Our constituents need to know how they will gain or lose from any of these projects. 28