Monday, July 16, 2012

Hammond Votes to Close Two Revelopment Districts

From the Northwest Indiana Times:

The Redevelopment Commission has formally closed two redevelopment areas in the city to free up money for the general fund.

Commissioners unanimously approved resolutions dissolving redevelopment areas for North Hammond and Unilever.

With the closures, Hammond will have approximately five redevelopment areas in the city, said Phil Taillon, planning department executive director.

“When the city has budget concerns that we have, you're going to see that,” Taillon said of the closures, “because you need as much tax dollars as you can to go into the tax rolls.”

Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. previously announced in his State of the City address that Hammond would dissolve three TIFs in the city – North Hammond, Unilever and Lear – as a strategy to generate additional revenue in the city’s general fund.

At the time, McDermott told The Times that closing the redevelopment areas would send a one-time payment of about $7.5 million to the city's general fund.

Taillon said even with the closures, the redevelopment areas will pay outstanding obligations, such as to Munster Steel. The company announced last year its plans to relocate to the West Point Plaza Industrial Park and within the boundaries of the North Hammond redevelopment area.

The city created the redevelopment area to benefit Unilever in 2002, and since then, all bonds have been paid off, according to the resolution. The designation had been set to end in June 2022 before the Redevelopment Commission took action Tuesday.

The North Hammond redevelopment area also dates back to 2002, according to the resolution.

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hammond/hammond-panel-closes-two-redevelopment-areas/article_7d4b21cf-1d85-5310-9631-89b0de65444c.html