How many other 2019 council candidates support restrictions on redevelopment commission activities?

Thanks to SW for this link, which dates back three years to a period when Carmel's city council was rolling back previous reforms aimed at taming an amok Redevelopment Commission.

All the themes here are not applicable to our own situation in New Albany, but some certainly are. I concur with the school of thought advocating a curtailment of Redevelopment Commission powers, greater city council control over vast sums of money currently being wielded by a clique of redevelopment cronies, and an enhancement of transparency for everyone involved.

Right now in New Albany, we don't have enough sunshine. Breaking a few comfy, entrenched strangleholds would help with that.

--- 

Carmel removes restrictions on redevelopment commission, by Chris Sikich (IndyStar; 4 Feb 2016)

The Carmel City Council continues to eliminate constraints previously placed on the mayor-controlled Carmel Redevelopment Commission.

Monday, the council unanimously removed a restriction that prevented its own members from serving and reappointed Jeff Worrell.

The restriction was a problem for Worrell. He has served on the commission since 2006 but was elected to the council in November and took office this year.

Worrell is one of five council members Mayor Jim Brainard supported financially in the May Republican primary, a move that swept a majority of candidates onto the council who support his vision for the city's future.

New council members have moved fast to validate Brainard's trust. On Jan. 4, they eliminated a restriction that the commission must seek approval for professional service contracts exceeding $25,000. The council on Jan. 18 eliminated a requirement that the council approve certain debt entered into by the redevelopment commission or its affiliates.

During the mayor's past two terms, the political landscape was different. Political opponents who controlled the City Council were growing increasingly concerned by 2010 that the mayor was using the redevelopment commission to enter into long-term debt without council oversight.

The mayor had been using the commission to bypass the council to financially back redevelopment projects, most notably construction related to The Center for the Performing Arts, City Center and the Arts & Design District.

In 2010, the council passed the restriction on its own members from serving on the commission, saying that doing so was a conflict of interest. Ron Carter, who was the commission's president, was booted off the body.

He is now the City Council president.

The council enacted the financial restrictions in 2012 after passing $195 million in bonds to bail out the commission when it could no longer pay both long-term obligations and ongoing operating costs.

Now that supporters of the mayor control both bodies, Carmel is moving forward with $242 million in bonds to build up to 32 new roundabouts and other infrastructure projects during the next three years.

Worrell said he is comfortable with the direction the redevelopment commission has taken in the past and believes in its mission for the future. He is president of Advantage Medical Rehab Equipment, helps organize the annual CarmelFest celebration and runs the website GoodDayCarmel.com.

He wants to use his experience to see current projects through their completion and to continue to build Carmel for the future.

"There has always been this discussion about transparency," Worrell said. "How much more transparent can you be if you have a representative who is on the City Council participating on the redevelopment commission who can then have some responsibility for making sure the council is aware of what is going on? I never understood the logic of it going the other direction."

Brainard said he wants the most qualified people to serve on the redevelopment commission and serving on the council should not be a disqualification. He also thinks the restrictions the council had passed on the commission were an overreach of authority.

In addition to reappointing Worrell, the council also reappointed Centier banking executive David Bowers to the five-member commission.

Brainard has reappointed Bill Brooks, chief operating officer emeritus of DWA Healthcare Communications Group, and Bill Hammer, a vice president at Simon Property Group, and will appoint Henry Mestetsky, a lawyer with Bingham Greenebaum Doll. He will replace Bob Dalzell, a Wells Fargo financial adviser.

The latest on HB 1131: Amended and up for a vote on Tuesday morning.

House Bill 1131 is authored by Rep. Ed Clere, and co-authored by Rep. Anthony Cook and Rep. Steven Stemler, and the legislation deals primarily with appointments to local boards and commissions.

HB 1131 has been amended, and is up for a vote on Tuesday in the House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee. Following is an overview of the bill -- though note that the amendment does not change the housing authority provision.

Provides that if the executive or fiscal body of a municipality does not fill a vacancy in the municipal housing authority before the 61st day after the vacancy occurs, the remaining members of the housing authority shall fill the vacancy. Provides that the remaining members are authorized to fill the vacancy even if the number of remaining members is not sufficient for a quorum. Provides that an individual who is acting as a member of a housing authority 60 days after the expiration of the individual's term as a member of the housing authority may continue to act as a member for purposes of filling the vacancy.

Here is a recap.

1. Commission membership and appointments

Both municipal and county redevelopment commissions will consist of seven members. Under current law, municipal redevelopment commissions consist of five members, and county redevelopment commissions may have either five or seven members.

The executive will continue to appoint three members (no more than two of one party), and the council will continue to appoint two members (one of each party). The political balance is new.

There will be one school board appointee. If more than one school corporation serves the municipality or county, the school board with the most members who live in the municipality or county will make the appointment. The appointee must live in the municipality or county.

The seventh member will be appointed by the council, upon a recommendation from the local LEDO.

2. Projects outside a TIF district

If revenue from a TIF district is used to fund projects outside the TIF district, the redevelopment commission will have to certify that the project will benefit the TIF district and result in the creation of private sector jobs.

3. Annual report

The Department of Local Government Finance will produce an annual report showing the effect of TIF on circuit breaker losses for each taxing district in a county. It will illustrate the circuit breaker change that would occur without TIF, and with 10 percent, 20 percent and 30 percent reductions in TIF assessed valuation (AV).

4. County council review

If the report shows extreme TIF pressure on circuit breakers, the council may require release of up to 20 percent of TIF AV, subject to debt service reserves. Extreme pressure is defined as a case in which releasing 20 percent of TIF AV would produce more than half of the amount of circuit breaker relief resulting from releasing 10 percent of TIF AV.

---

PROPOSED AMENDMENT ... HB 1131 # 5

DIGEST

Redevelopment commissions. Makes the following changes regarding commission membership: (1) Requires a county or municipal redevelopment commission (commission) to consist of seven members. (Under current law, a municipal commission must be five members, a county commission must be five members or seven members). (2) Requires one member to be appointed to a commission upon the recommendation of the local economic development organization (LEDO) of the territory served by the commission, or upon the joint recommendation by all LEDOS serving the territory within the jurisdiction of the commission. (3) Establishes political party membership requirements for some appointments. (4) Requires municipal and county commission members to reside within the territory under the jurisdiction of the commission. Provides that a member serving on a commission on June 30, 2017, that does not satisfy the residency or party membership requirements continues to serve out the member's unexpired term. Requires the commission to comply with these requirements when appointing a successor member. Provides that allocated property tax proceeds may be expended for projects located outside a redevelopment district only if the commission adopts a declaratory resolution that finds that the expenditures: (1) will directly benefit the redevelopment district; and (2) will result in the creation of jobs in the private sector. Provides that the county council of a county in which a redevelopment authority is located may require redistribution to taxing units of up to 20% of the assessed value that is allocated to allocation areas if, when considering a reduction in the allocation in allocation areas from 10% to 20%, the amount of the reduction in losses due to the circuit breaker credits is exceeded by more than fifty percent (50%). Provides, however, that the county council may not make a redistribution to taxing units if: (1) the redistribution would effect debt service; or (2) there is no loss that meets the criteria for a distribution that is to a unit other than the municipality in which the allocation area is located, or a special service district that is wholly located within the boundaries of the municipality that established the allocation area. Requires the department of local government finance (DLGF) to annually prepare a report for each taxing unit that includes a calculation of the following: (1) The total property tax levy from the assessed value in the taxing unit and the amount of loss due to the circuit breaker credits. (2) The total property tax proceeds from the assessed value that exceeds the base assessed value in all allocation areas established within the taxing unit. (3) The effect, if any, on the amount of the tax levy or proceeds and the credit for excessive property taxes under IC 6-1.1-20.6 for the taxing unit and for the allocation areas if the allocation and distribution of tax proceeds in the allocation areas were: (A) eliminated; (B) reduced by 10%; (C) reduced by 20%; or (D) reduced by 30%. Requires the DLGF to: (1) post the report on the DLGF web site; and (2) file the report with the governor and the general assembly.