City To Join Effort To Change State Statute Regarding Tech Parks

April 9, 2019 at 1:12 a.m.


A group of certified technology parks in Indiana has hired a consultant to pursue changing a state statute and Warsaw City Planner Jeremy Skinner wants the city’s Redevelopment Commission to be on board.

Changing the state statute would allow a maximum of $500,000 per year to be collected by each designated certified technology park after it's collected its first $5 million.

The commission agreed at its meeting Monday to join the effort and to the $3,000 cost. The money would go to Northeast Indiana Innovation Center, who has the contract with the consulting firm.

Skinner said, “Right now the technology park is capped at $5 million. Once we collect $5 million, we don’t collect any more revenue. So certified tech parks are capped at $5 million so we can continue to operate the certified tech park, but once it hits $5 million cap, which is current state law, we receive no more revenue.”

He said the group of certified technology parks – mainly out of Muncie and Fort Wayne – have been working with state legislators and Cardinal Strategies LLC consulting firm to change state law so once that $5 million cap is reached, tech parks can collect a maximum of $500,000 per year going forward.

“A lot of the technology parks operate incubators, so the idea here is that you would have some funds on hand to continue those incubators' operations moving forward in the future,” Skinner said.

The Redevelopment Commission’s share of the consulting services cost is based on the number of certified tech parks involved and Cardinal Strategies’ work over the past 2-1/2 years, he explained.

Skinner said they’ve supported the efforts so far, just not financially, but he asked that the commission do that now.

He said the change in state statute has passed through the State Senate and is about to be passed through the State House. “They’re really close to getting support from the state to continue tech park funding beyond the $5 million cap,” Skinner said.

Mayor Joe Thallemer told the commission, “First of all, $5 million is over the life of the tech park. In other words, the city of Warsaw can collect up to $5 million before this would even be applicable to us. And we’ve got several years before we hit that.”

In the tech park’s three years, the city has collected just under $1.2 million, according to Skinner.

“I think the important thing is, we are reviewed every three years for the use of our tech park and the type of industry that goes into our tech park, and the state is looking carefully at how those tax dollars, that increment is being spent, and they want to make sure that the tech park is being used for its original purpose,” Thallemer said.

To that end, he said the Indiana Economic Development Corp. has come and talked to the city about how it’s using its tech park.

“The state legislature, they don’t want those state income taxes going to increment if it’s not meeting the intended purpose of the park. So I think the legislature is keeping an eye on the tech park statute,” Thallemer said, noting Gov. Mitch Daniels started them and there are about 23 in Indiana.

In other business, the commission:

• Approved April claims of $272.15, Troyer Group, ongoing professional services for the CR 300N project; $3,000, Verne Mitchell & Associates, for an appraisal for the CR 300N project; $13,806.70, American Structurepoint, for professional engineering services for the Buffalo Street plaza project; three claims for Wessler Engineering for the Airport Industrial Park of $3,685.40, $4,650 and $47,155.67; and one claim for Wessler for $20,000 for the Warsaw Tech Park lift station engineering services.

• Approved the annual insurance compliance certificate for the Buffalo Street project bond. The certificate goes to The Huntington National Bank, the trustee on the bond issue. The certificate says “we’re in compliance with our insurance requirements,” Skinner said.

• Approved an amendment to the contract with Wessler Engineering  for the tech park phase II lift station totaling an increase of $25,000 and an amendment for the Airport Industrial Park sanitary sewer improvements totaling an increase of $107,500.

• Reviewed the 2019 financial report and heard a presentation on the impact of TIF districts to the city.

A group of certified technology parks in Indiana has hired a consultant to pursue changing a state statute and Warsaw City Planner Jeremy Skinner wants the city’s Redevelopment Commission to be on board.

Changing the state statute would allow a maximum of $500,000 per year to be collected by each designated certified technology park after it's collected its first $5 million.

The commission agreed at its meeting Monday to join the effort and to the $3,000 cost. The money would go to Northeast Indiana Innovation Center, who has the contract with the consulting firm.

Skinner said, “Right now the technology park is capped at $5 million. Once we collect $5 million, we don’t collect any more revenue. So certified tech parks are capped at $5 million so we can continue to operate the certified tech park, but once it hits $5 million cap, which is current state law, we receive no more revenue.”

He said the group of certified technology parks – mainly out of Muncie and Fort Wayne – have been working with state legislators and Cardinal Strategies LLC consulting firm to change state law so once that $5 million cap is reached, tech parks can collect a maximum of $500,000 per year going forward.

“A lot of the technology parks operate incubators, so the idea here is that you would have some funds on hand to continue those incubators' operations moving forward in the future,” Skinner said.

The Redevelopment Commission’s share of the consulting services cost is based on the number of certified tech parks involved and Cardinal Strategies’ work over the past 2-1/2 years, he explained.

Skinner said they’ve supported the efforts so far, just not financially, but he asked that the commission do that now.

He said the change in state statute has passed through the State Senate and is about to be passed through the State House. “They’re really close to getting support from the state to continue tech park funding beyond the $5 million cap,” Skinner said.

Mayor Joe Thallemer told the commission, “First of all, $5 million is over the life of the tech park. In other words, the city of Warsaw can collect up to $5 million before this would even be applicable to us. And we’ve got several years before we hit that.”

In the tech park’s three years, the city has collected just under $1.2 million, according to Skinner.

“I think the important thing is, we are reviewed every three years for the use of our tech park and the type of industry that goes into our tech park, and the state is looking carefully at how those tax dollars, that increment is being spent, and they want to make sure that the tech park is being used for its original purpose,” Thallemer said.

To that end, he said the Indiana Economic Development Corp. has come and talked to the city about how it’s using its tech park.

“The state legislature, they don’t want those state income taxes going to increment if it’s not meeting the intended purpose of the park. So I think the legislature is keeping an eye on the tech park statute,” Thallemer said, noting Gov. Mitch Daniels started them and there are about 23 in Indiana.

In other business, the commission:

• Approved April claims of $272.15, Troyer Group, ongoing professional services for the CR 300N project; $3,000, Verne Mitchell & Associates, for an appraisal for the CR 300N project; $13,806.70, American Structurepoint, for professional engineering services for the Buffalo Street plaza project; three claims for Wessler Engineering for the Airport Industrial Park of $3,685.40, $4,650 and $47,155.67; and one claim for Wessler for $20,000 for the Warsaw Tech Park lift station engineering services.

• Approved the annual insurance compliance certificate for the Buffalo Street project bond. The certificate goes to The Huntington National Bank, the trustee on the bond issue. The certificate says “we’re in compliance with our insurance requirements,” Skinner said.

• Approved an amendment to the contract with Wessler Engineering  for the tech park phase II lift station totaling an increase of $25,000 and an amendment for the Airport Industrial Park sanitary sewer improvements totaling an increase of $107,500.

• Reviewed the 2019 financial report and heard a presentation on the impact of TIF districts to the city.
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