The controversial Interstate 65 tax increment financing district is inching closer to approval despite the pleas of two local mayors.
The Johnson County Redevelopment Commission on Monday announced its plans to update the proposed I-65 TIF district before it goes to a vote. The TIF district — one of two firsts for the county — has been stalled since April, when the mayors of Franklin and Greenwood called on the county to rethink its size and impact on the cities.
Several commission members met with the mayors on Monday prior to the public meeting in an attempt to iron out their differences.
Both mayors have said the county’s I-65 TIF district would stop their growth and swoop in at the 11th hour to halt eastward expansions that have been in the works for years.
Both mayors put forth what they saw as compromises at the meeting.
Greenwood Mayor Mark Myers offered to extend the city’s sewer services to the TIF district if the county removes its proposed parcels between the city limits and Franklin Road in Clark Township, he said.
Franklin Mayor Steve Barnett offered to take over maintenance of certain county roads that lead to the city if the county removes its proposed parcels directly east and south of the city, he said. The deal would include several county roads that are partially maintained by the city but mostly maintained by the county and are in disrepair, he said.
Both mayors’ offers are only on the table if the county agrees to those deals, they said.
For Greenwood to bring sewer to the area, the county would have to pay for the costs of installation and future maintenance of the system, Myers said.
Franklin’s commitment included about $2 million for routine milling and overlay work on the roads, Barnett said.
Both deals were brought forth because the TIF district is, in part, created to help pay for road work and utilities needed to draw development to the area, according to past statements by commission members.
Commission members did not say at the Monday meeting they would agree to any of the terms, nor did they commit to anything in private, the mayors said.
Commission members Ron West and R. Lee Money said there have not been any attempts at compromise.
“Basically, there were no concessions on the parts of the two cities that were represented. We’ve had several meetings with them up to this point trying to arrive at some sense of cooperation and we haven’t heard any,” West said.
Money took it a step further and said the cities were acting in their own self-interest above citizens in unincorporated areas, and he took issue with claims the county couldn’t be a driver of economic development.
“To suggest that the county is not capable of considering what is best for everyone, including the citizens of those municipalities, is short-sighted. I think it gives no credit to the county. To suggest it can’t work for everybody means they don’t want it to work for everybody. It is also to suggest that those municipalities want to act selfishly,” Money said.
Due to the county’s perceived lack of compromise from the cities, the redevelopment commission is on track to move forward, West said.
“It has been a disappointing response from the cities. And I think that suggests that we should act in the best interest of the county instead of just sit back and let somebody else decide what is best for the county who doesn’t represent that county,” he said.
Moving forward with the TIF district as it is would landlock the cities, as well as Whiteland, and remove their ability to move forward with long-held expansion plans, Myers said.
A TIF district of this size and scope would be an unprecedented affront to the power of the cities to grow and control their own destinies, Barnett said.
“This is going to be the only county in Indiana where they’re trying to handcuff what the cities are trying to do,” he said.
While Franklin and Greenwood are both primed to extend their services whenever a developer requests it, it would take time for the county to get there, the mayors said. Both said they don’t plan to extend sewers beyond city limits unless it is to further the growth of their cities.
That would essentially stop growth for a minimum of four years and kill projects that are ready to go, Myers said.
Currently, the county has no plans for any development in the area, and county officials say they don’t know how exactly the area will develop.
Greenwood has had a solid plan for awhile, Myers said.
Several developers are nearly ready to submit proposals to annex into the city to provide single-family and multi-family housing. The developers are unlikely to develop the area if the county TIF district is approved because utility connections would not be readily available, he said.
“We don’t have many sites left on the eastside and we are really looking to control what happens on the eastside. We aren’t looking for more industrial development on the east side,” Myers said. “With the county in charge of that, who knows what will happen.”
No specific plans for development east of Franklin have been presented, but Barnett says the city should be the one to have a role in future development.
For Franklin, the county moving forward with the TIF district would mean there is no way to grow to the east, with few parcels left within city limits. The supply of land that is ready for development would likely dry up in five to 10 years, he said.
Commission member Brian Baird told the commission he would update the map of parcels to be included in the TIF district before their next meeting.
The map is being updated to remove parcels that were included in error that are already within the city limits of Franklin and Greenwood, he said. Parcels that make up the Mohr development in Whiteland will also be removed because they were annexed into the town after the map was created.
Consideration of the I-65 TIF district will be on the commission’s agenda at its Aug. 30 meeting.
