Etna Green Council Sets Public Hearing On Residential TIF District
November 16, 2022 at 11:06 p.m.
By Jackie [email protected]
The public hearing is set for 6:30 p.m. Dec. 13 at Etna Green Town Hall to answer any questions or concerns residents have in regards to the residential TIF.
The proposed residential TIF is an 18.8-acre project in Etna Green adjacent to Heritage Park.
Greg Fitzloff, business partner with Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO), updated the Council on the residential TIF.
The Kosciusko County Redevelopment Commission had Baker Tilly do a 1% test. To set up a residential TIF district, it has to be shown the amount of housing produced in the previous three calendar years doesn’t average more than 1% of the total homes in that jurisdiction. That designation was sent to the state.
At the Oct. 27 Commission meeting, it was decided to slow the process down of the creation of the residential TIF district.
Fitzloff said the Commission issued a declaratory resolution saying Etna Green is eligible to create a residential TIF and is moving forward with that process. The next step is to notify all the overlapping taxing entities, including the town and Triton School Board.
The Commission is holding a public hearing Jan. 3.
Another step was to get Triton School Board to pass an ordinance saying they were OK with the creation of the residential TIF district. The School Board “was quite thrilled” with the TIF district, he said, and the Board passed the resolution.
The Commission is in the middle of doing the fiscal and tax impact study, which will be done by Baker Tilly.
During the Commission’s February meeting, the Commission will look at the property to see if it’s suitable for a TIF district. After that, all the steps have been done. The Council will have to approve a declaratory resolution stating all the steps for the creation of the TIF district have been followed and the information can be sent to the state and the district can be created.
Fitzloff said the creation of the district will probably be in March, according to the current timeline.
Only when the residential TIF is created and there is a developer, there may be some discussion about using some of that TIF revenue to help underwrite the costs for development, Fitzloff said. That will not happen until the town has gone through all the steps needed to be done to get the TIF district created.
At this point, the town isn’t spending any money and isn’t committed to spending any money at this point, he said. If the town can’t reach a deal with the developer, the town created the residential TIF, but it doesn’t do anything and it doesn’t impact any of the taxpayers. He said there have been TIF districts created in the state that have never done anything.
The only thing the process gives the town is the opportunity to have a discussion with a developer to develop the residential TIF district, he said.
The Council decided to have a public hearing at Etna Green Town Council before the Commission’s public hearing. Fitzloff said he was willing to be at the meeting to answer questions.
He said KEDCO simply wants people to ask their questions now and understand nothing is being done now that will have any impact on anything at this point in time.
Councilman Jason Hanes said he doesn’t want people to go into the Commission’s public hearing thinking everyone has made up their minds.
Also, Clerk-Treasurer Patti Cook brought up some work at the park building after a rental.
During a recent rental of the park building at Heritage Park, silly string was put all over the building. It looked like the silly string was trampled on and “they just left it,” she said. The silly string was embedded in the wax of the floor. Cook said balloons were also left in the building.
The cost to redo the floor was $650. A $200 deposit is required to rent the building.
Council President Keith Claassen said it states in the contract people sign to rent the building that they are to pay all expenses associated with the rental.
“We can’t just be absorbing that when people do that,” Claassen said.
Hanes said he saw the building and the only way to fix the issue was to strip the floor.
Town attorney Nick Jacobs said if Cook wants to send a demand letter for the remainder of the cost after the deposit to rent the community building, he can. Cook said that would be nice if he did. Jacobs asked for any photos, the contract and invoices Cook had.
The Council also scheduled an executive session at 5 p.m. Tuesday to talk about staffing at the park.
The Council also approved an Indiana Unsafe Building Law ordinance.
Jacobs said the ordinance will give the Council more options when it comes to depilated houses in town. There has to be executive department who administers the ordinance and puts a warning on a house to fix up the house. Jacobs said in the ordinance, the Council would be listed as the executive department.
He also said the ordinance would allow the Council to appoint an enforcement authority and a hearing authority. It was left vague so the Council could think of who they wanted to appoint.
There was no public comment about the ordinance before it was approved.
Hanes also updated the Council on plans for a walking trail near Heritage Park. He said he has a meeting with Rich Haddad, president and CEO of the K21 Health Foundation, in January. The town has a $200,000 pledge from the foundation to use the money for health and wellness opportunities in the town. Hanes said the plans need to be finalized. He also suggested representatives from USI Consultants Inc. be present at the Council’s Dec. 13 meeting to finalize plans for the walking trail.
In other business, the Council learned Santa is coming to the park building from 1 to 3 p.m. Dec. 17.
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The public hearing is set for 6:30 p.m. Dec. 13 at Etna Green Town Hall to answer any questions or concerns residents have in regards to the residential TIF.
The proposed residential TIF is an 18.8-acre project in Etna Green adjacent to Heritage Park.
Greg Fitzloff, business partner with Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO), updated the Council on the residential TIF.
The Kosciusko County Redevelopment Commission had Baker Tilly do a 1% test. To set up a residential TIF district, it has to be shown the amount of housing produced in the previous three calendar years doesn’t average more than 1% of the total homes in that jurisdiction. That designation was sent to the state.
At the Oct. 27 Commission meeting, it was decided to slow the process down of the creation of the residential TIF district.
Fitzloff said the Commission issued a declaratory resolution saying Etna Green is eligible to create a residential TIF and is moving forward with that process. The next step is to notify all the overlapping taxing entities, including the town and Triton School Board.
The Commission is holding a public hearing Jan. 3.
Another step was to get Triton School Board to pass an ordinance saying they were OK with the creation of the residential TIF district. The School Board “was quite thrilled” with the TIF district, he said, and the Board passed the resolution.
The Commission is in the middle of doing the fiscal and tax impact study, which will be done by Baker Tilly.
During the Commission’s February meeting, the Commission will look at the property to see if it’s suitable for a TIF district. After that, all the steps have been done. The Council will have to approve a declaratory resolution stating all the steps for the creation of the TIF district have been followed and the information can be sent to the state and the district can be created.
Fitzloff said the creation of the district will probably be in March, according to the current timeline.
Only when the residential TIF is created and there is a developer, there may be some discussion about using some of that TIF revenue to help underwrite the costs for development, Fitzloff said. That will not happen until the town has gone through all the steps needed to be done to get the TIF district created.
At this point, the town isn’t spending any money and isn’t committed to spending any money at this point, he said. If the town can’t reach a deal with the developer, the town created the residential TIF, but it doesn’t do anything and it doesn’t impact any of the taxpayers. He said there have been TIF districts created in the state that have never done anything.
The only thing the process gives the town is the opportunity to have a discussion with a developer to develop the residential TIF district, he said.
The Council decided to have a public hearing at Etna Green Town Council before the Commission’s public hearing. Fitzloff said he was willing to be at the meeting to answer questions.
He said KEDCO simply wants people to ask their questions now and understand nothing is being done now that will have any impact on anything at this point in time.
Councilman Jason Hanes said he doesn’t want people to go into the Commission’s public hearing thinking everyone has made up their minds.
Also, Clerk-Treasurer Patti Cook brought up some work at the park building after a rental.
During a recent rental of the park building at Heritage Park, silly string was put all over the building. It looked like the silly string was trampled on and “they just left it,” she said. The silly string was embedded in the wax of the floor. Cook said balloons were also left in the building.
The cost to redo the floor was $650. A $200 deposit is required to rent the building.
Council President Keith Claassen said it states in the contract people sign to rent the building that they are to pay all expenses associated with the rental.
“We can’t just be absorbing that when people do that,” Claassen said.
Hanes said he saw the building and the only way to fix the issue was to strip the floor.
Town attorney Nick Jacobs said if Cook wants to send a demand letter for the remainder of the cost after the deposit to rent the community building, he can. Cook said that would be nice if he did. Jacobs asked for any photos, the contract and invoices Cook had.
The Council also scheduled an executive session at 5 p.m. Tuesday to talk about staffing at the park.
The Council also approved an Indiana Unsafe Building Law ordinance.
Jacobs said the ordinance will give the Council more options when it comes to depilated houses in town. There has to be executive department who administers the ordinance and puts a warning on a house to fix up the house. Jacobs said in the ordinance, the Council would be listed as the executive department.
He also said the ordinance would allow the Council to appoint an enforcement authority and a hearing authority. It was left vague so the Council could think of who they wanted to appoint.
There was no public comment about the ordinance before it was approved.
Hanes also updated the Council on plans for a walking trail near Heritage Park. He said he has a meeting with Rich Haddad, president and CEO of the K21 Health Foundation, in January. The town has a $200,000 pledge from the foundation to use the money for health and wellness opportunities in the town. Hanes said the plans need to be finalized. He also suggested representatives from USI Consultants Inc. be present at the Council’s Dec. 13 meeting to finalize plans for the walking trail.
In other business, the Council learned Santa is coming to the park building from 1 to 3 p.m. Dec. 17.
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