Prop 15 Gets Public Hearing Tonight - With Notice

Unlike the August 27 meeting of the Metropolitan & Economic Development committee of the City-County Council, the agenda for tonight's meeting does list Prop 15, which seeks to expand the downtown TIF to include the Mass Ave TIF and the Bush Stadium TIF for a total additional footprint of 1.1 square miles.

Proposal 15 remains dead, according to Council Rules, but I expect it to get vigorous debate and a vote regardless.

Not on the agenda is Prop 291, which would approve the proposed Mid-Town TIF.

There is also a budget hearing for the Department of Code Enforcement to be held at the committee meeting tonight.

So, look for a long night.

What's Wrong With This Picture? - The Proposed Mass Ave TIF

Prop 15 proposes two expansions of the consolidated downtown TIF district.  A westward expansion of 604 acres, and an eastward expansion of 112 acres.  The latter is also known as the Mass Ave TIF, although about half of the acres are nowhere near Mass Ave.  The project area is less than one acre - by my calculations 0.8 acres, in fact.

But, see for yourself. 

I've actually been working on this for a few days and just waiting for one more piece.  I'll update you once I have secured that additional piece.  But, last night's maybe legal, maybe illegal, vote to push the TIF out of committee has hastened my schedule.  Helping me with information about the location of future proposed development has been Gary Welsh, author of the Advance Indiana blog and nearby resident.

I have uploaded all of these pictures in one document to Google Docs, so you can review them with as much zoom as you wish.



Proposed Mass Ave TIF - with Google aerial maps



Proposed Mass Ave TIF - outline

 

 

 

Proposed Mass Ave TIF - close up of East Area



Proposed Mass Ave TIF - close up of Mid Area



Proposed Mass Ave TIF - close up of West Area

The recommendations of the TIF Study Commission would protect the public interest by requiring disclosure of pertinent facts.  All of which would combine to address these questions:

Why this TIF?  Why this Place?  Why this Project?  Why this Footprint?

Its easy, once you see the outline of the proposed TIF, to want to know why a TIF is the best vehicle to fund the project?  Why not sell the block with the fire station and actually make money for the taxpayers to help build the new station?  Why not give the block away to the developer?

Why does the Mass Ave corridor require investment of public dollars at all?  The place is up and coming and a number of projects are already slated to begin within the next 12 months without a TIF and public dollars.

Why does this project need over 100 times its footprint to support it?  Or is the extra land included for other reasons, like setting up an extensive slush fund?  It is even said that the value of the already developed Trail Side project in the East Area will be immediately removed from the base (so current tax dollars will not continue to flow to the schools, library, etc) and included in the increment.

Indy's TIFs already cover 10% of Indy's property value.  It is irresponsible to pass this proposed TIF, or any TIF, without thorough evaluation and adjustment, if needed, or dismissal, if warranted.

[edited to add: I received a copy of the amendment to Prop 15 - it calls for excluding two properties from the TIF - 875 Mass Ave and 1201 Indiana Ave.  The former is the site of the Trail Side and the other is student housing next to the IUPUI campus.]

Bloggers Expose Roots of PR Campaign to Push Mass Ave TIF

The pressure has been mounting from the Ballard administration to push and/or extort the Council into approving 5 new TIF districts (with a 6th rumored to be waiting in the wings) before the recommendations of the TIF Study Commission are acted upon and therefore before significant details would have to be disclosed on those 5/6 TIFs.
At least part of the PR campaign has been uncovered and is now exposed by two fellow bloggers, Gary Welsh of Advance Indiana, and Matt Stone of Indy Student.
Welsh got the ball rolling (see "How To Get Your Political Nemesis To Sing Your Praises") when he uncovered the fact that Gordon Hendry, former so-called public servant, stands to see the company he works for, CB Richard Ellis, rake in over a million taxpayer dollars in commissions if the Mass Ave TIF goes in.  Hendry's wife is Jennifer Wagner who used to pen an outstanding blog of her own - Taking Down Words - on behalf of the State Democratic Party.  Ms. Wagner is now a spokeswoman for the Ds, even though her personal life seems more corrolated with her comments than does the actual positions of the Democratic Party.  Ms. Wagner has supported the obscene raises Ballard gave to his office mates.  She has supported the Mass Ave TIF.
In today's post (see "What the Hell is Grow Mass Ave?"), Stone reported some rooting around he did with domain names and the like, to expose the very new website for the newly invented "Grow Mass Ave".  Surprise, but the domain name was just registered this month by Wagner.  The website it already up and running - fast work that surely isn't pro bono. 
Back to Welsh's post today (see "Grow Mass Ave A Shill For Developers?"), Welsh propels Stone's report forward with revelations that Mass Ave business owners aren't all that thrilled with the proposed TIF or a developing plot to create an Economic Improvement District that could assess an additional tax from local businesses and residents in the Mass Ave area.  He lays out how the area has seen private investment in recent years, belying any need for public taxpayer dollars:

In the past couple of years, the corridor has seen continued redevelopment despite the depressed economic condition without the assistance of a TIF. On the north end of the corridor, Riley Area Development CDC is just completing a mixed use project, Trail Side, that involved razing a building formerly owned by Center Township and redeveloping a half block area into 69 affordable apartments with ground level retail/commercial space and off-street parking. The Cunningham Group opened up its second restaurant on the Avenue, Bru Burger, which has enjoyed great success, along with its first restaurant, Mesh. A microbrewery is slated to open up a block from the Avenue at the corner of Park and North, and a major mixed use project, which will cover almost an entire city block at the corner of Michigan and College, is slated to kick off next year without any government assistance.

Welsh also notes that the head of Grow Mass Ave, Cassie Stockamp, is not a business owner in the area, but runs the non-profit Antheneum.  The Mass Ave businesses already have an association to represent their interests.  The Ballard administration is always pulling in favorable comments from organizations that would like a little sugar, and this sounds like the case with Grow Mass Ave's Stockamp.
I'm not going to say it any better than Welsh - so here's the bottom line take home message for Indy taxpayers:

What should be abundantly clear to the public is that a propaganda machine has been put into place in an effort to steer tens of millions of tax dollars into the hands of private developers to redevelop an area that has already proven that it can sustain current and future development without ciphoning off much-needed property tax revenues from other taxing districts. Unfortunately, the mainstream media has simply been shilling for the Ballard administration and the private developers/architects, who stand to benefit handsomely from government handouts. This is an outrage when you consider that basic city services must be reduced because of the lack of revenues to finance them. The public must rise up and demand accountability from their elected officials. If Mayor Ballard gets his way, you will be paying higher property taxes on your homes, while these fat cats walk off with milliions of taxpayer dollars. Call your city councilor and the mayor's office today and demand that they represent the public's interest, not the fat cat contributors who are lining their pockets with campaign contributions, free dinners at five-star restaurants and tickets to sporting events.