HANCOCK COUNTY — Officials in Hancock County are creating a district that would capture certain tax funds and Cumberland leaders say it would impede the town’s ability to extend sewer service and annex.
The county is establishing a tax increment financing district in the western part of the county. When a TIF district gets created, the amount of taxes generated up to that point continue funding what they’ve always funded, while taxes generated on top of that resulting from new development get set aside for infrastructure improvements in the district.
Much of the proposed TIF district spans south of Interstate 70 to just north of U.S. 40 and between S. County Roads 700W and 525W. It would encompass a stretch of Mt. Comfort Road, a corridor officials and studies indicate is ripe for development. The district would also include an area just south of I-70 that Hancock Health plans to foster future developments in.
Much of the proposed TIF district is in Cumberland’s sewer service area. The town likely wouldn’t be willing to extend sewer service into the district if annexation isn’t possible, Anna Pea, a Cumberland Town Council member, told the Hancock County Area Plan Commission earlier this week. And annexation would be nearly impossible, she continued, with the new tax revenue in the district getting set aside for TIF purposes.
“As a result, Cumberland will most likely be faced with a situation where it would have to turn away sewer service requests,” Pea said. “This will impede economic development.”
Gregg Morelock, the county plan commission’s attorney, said if Cumberland refused to extend sewer service into the TIF district, another provider could petition the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission to do so.
Tax increment financing and residential areas often don’t go hand in hand, Morelock also said, as the fluctuation of residential property values could negatively impact the tax revenue the district’s able to garner. He added if there were a residential development in the TIF district and Cumberland’s sewer service area, it could be carved out of the district and Cumberland could annex it and extend sewer service.
The Hancock County Redevelopment Commission, the county’s TIF authority, first approved the proposed district in April. Cumberland’s concerns resulted in a compromise that moved the district’s western boundary from S. County Road 700W to Mt. Comfort Road. The county plan commission approved that district last month, but it failed with the Hancock County Commissioners by a vote of 0-3.
Randy Sorrell, executive director of the Hancock County Economic Development Council, said when he recently polled redevelopment commission members, a majority indicated they continued to support the originally proposed district. That directed plan commission members to consider the initial idea earlier this week, which they passed 8-0.
John Jessup, a plan commission member and president of the Hancock County Commissioners, said when municipalities annex and grow, it also grows their slice of income taxes while shrinking county government’s. And as those municipalities grow, he added, their need for county services also increases.
“Our budget goes down, our demand goes up,” Jessup said. “… So yes, as a county commissioner representing all of the people of Hancock County, I will de-incentivize annexation every time I get the opportunity.”
The anticipated timeline for the finalization of the proposed TIF district includes a commissioners vote on July 16, a redevelopment commission public hearing on Aug. 8 and a final commissioners vote on Aug. 19.
