From a lengthy story in the Indianapolis Star:
A development that city leaders are pursuing to inject life into a dead zone on Massachusetts Avenue has been set back at least another month because of stalling by the City-County Council.
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The delays for much of this year in the council are rooted not in the actual projects but on a drive to reform the way the city has long relied on special economic districts to help subsidize private developments.
That drive has led to tension between the Democrat-majority council and Republican Mayor Greg Ballard's administration, which sees little problem with the city's long-standing approach.
At the root of critics' concerns are tax-increment finance (TIF) districts, which have kept schools, libraries and the IndyGo transit agency, among other local governments, from benefiting from new developments' tax contributions. That's because the growth in property tax collections that those improved properties spur is diverted for years or even decades to support further development -- sometimes indefinitely, in the case of Downtown.
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For three months, a council study commission examined the city's use of TIF districts. It wrapped up nearly a month ago, recommending changes aimed at encouraging greater restraint, transparency and accountability; some would require changes in state law.
Monday, a key council committee chairman dashed hopes inside Ballard's administration that the delays were over.
Why the holdup? Because council leaders want to take a stab at some of the commission's recommended reforms first.
Councilman Steve Talley said it will be early August at the earliest before two administration-submitted proposals that would expand existing TIF districts get any consideration in his Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee. The other concerns TIF district that would be expanded to support commercial development in the Meadows area near 38th Street.
City officials had hoped for a committee hearing Monday, but Talley left the items off the agenda.
That likely puts off votes by the full council until September or even later.
"We want to get it done as quickly as we can," said Talley, who says he hasn't been convinced that the projects targeted by the TIF district expansions are in jeopardy. "The calendar is not going to dictate the process and the due diligence that I think those projects deserve."
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See the full article here:
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012207240313
