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Dan Coffey is trying to rewrite history.
CM Coffey's ordinance seeks to force the use of over 3 million downtown TIF dollars to repay EDIT funds used on the State Street Parking garage.
The city originally set it up so that bond payments for the State Street garage, which is now paid off in full, were funded 2/3 by EDIT funds and 1/3 by TIF funds. Because a small portion of extra EDIT dollars was used during the life of the bond to make up a TIF shortfall, Coffey is now trying to claim that TIF has to repay the entire amount of EDIT dollars used on the project, which is not only incorrect based on the original agreement but also probably illegal as state law mandates that TIF funds can only be used on infrastructure improvements.
If this passes, all downtown TIF funds collected will be used towards repaying EDIT funds from the old project rather than on continued infrastructure improvements like the new parking garage. Since Coffey is insisting that *all* downtown TIF funds go towards his faulty repayment scheme, the city wouldn't be able to do any TIF financing downtown for years.
Again, it was understood at the time of bond issuance that TIF would not be enough to cover the bond payment and that a majority of the bond payment would come from EDIT. It was purposely and knowingly set up and voted on that way.
To repeat: Coffey is trying to rewrite history.
What is Coffey's ostensible purpose with this ordinance? Has he stated one? I'll be the first to admit, municipal finance can be tricky. Is there a book out there "all4word" "Municipal finance for elected Dummies"?
ReplyDeleteI am not trying to cast doubt one way or the other, but there seems to be a lot of "he said, they said" or in other words, hearsay. Any actual records to back up either side of this issue?
ReplyDeleteActually, G, there is a book available through the Indiana Association of Cities and Towns. I believe all council members receive the book free of charge each four years. The latest edition is available also to the public...it's $75. Our cost is $75, too, but we carry it as a public service.
ReplyDeleteIt carefully lays out in layperson's language all the procedures and statutes relevant to cities and towns, including New Albany.
I wonder how many council members have cracked its covers?
IAH,
ReplyDeleteThere should be documentation for all of it. Keep in mind, any EDIT expenditure has to go through Council for approval.
That means the Council would've had to sign off on any EDIT funds spent on the parking garage (or anything else for that matter).
I understand. Thanks, Bluegill.
ReplyDeleteOne correction: The parking garage will be paid off this December. I thought the last payment had already been made.
ReplyDeleteCity officials last night confirmed what's asserted here: that the parking garage deal was originally written to include both EDIT and TIF funds in combination, with a majority of EDIT, for bond payments. When the TIF portion fell temporarily short in the early years of the bond due to delays on the Community Bank building, the Council voted to appropriate a small additional amount of EDIT to make up the difference.
What Coffey is asserting is that TIF should repay the entire bond amount, which is not what the bond agreement indicated.
Mr. Rosenbarger offered to provide the bond agreement to any council member who wanted to confirm that truth. Oddly, none of them took him up on it.
Odd, but not surprising!!
ReplyDelete