The Capital Improvements Board has received its first two requests for money, and those requests have already prompted the body to reconsider its guiding principles.
Steve Brody, a board member who leads the committee reviewing requests, said the board has been asked for $200,000 for equipment for a wireless technology center at IPFW and for $1 million for the $16 million law school at Indiana Tech.
The board collects some state income and sales taxes from IPFW, Grand Wayne Center, Memorial Coliseum and the Holiday Inn near the Coliseum. But the bulk of its funding comes from the county’s food and beverage tax revenue that is not needed to finance Coliseum debt.
The board received $3.1 million in early 2011 and $1.1 million this year. It is expected to accumulate up to $85 million over the next 17 years.
With focus on economic improvement, the board has spent months figuring out policies for spending the money and procedures for requesting it. It began taking requests Aug. 24 with the launch of its website, www.allencountycib.org.
Among the policies on spending were rules that the money would be used for projects that are $1 million or greater, that would leverage other assets and that demonstrate economic viability.
The IPFW request is well below the $1 million threshold, and the committee wants more details on how Indiana Tech’s law school fits into the board’s overriding goal of creating or retaining high-wage jobs.
But both projects merit more study, Brody said, and the board’s rules should probably allow more flexibility.
Both IPFW and Indiana Tech will be invited to complete a full application for funding.
The board also heard an extensive report Thursday on economic development and how its efforts could help dramatically. John Sampson, president and CEO of the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, said it has become clear that the No. 1 priority for the region needs to be developing, attracting and retaining talent.
He said 31.5 percent of the workforce in the region has a four-year degree, a two-year degree or is certified in a skill, but that percentage needs to be 60 percent.
