HANCOCK COUNTY — An increasing backlash against a popular economic development tool that diverts tax revenue is galvanizing local homeowners, and they’re hoping to ally with lawmakers to make changes in how that revenue is distributed.
Some homeowners who live in the area of the planned Red Rock development, which is also the site of a potential tax increment financing, or TIF, district, don’t want the developers to receive a tax break that allows the taxes they do pay to go toward further development projects, like road improvements, without contributing to schools and public safety. They plan to discuss the issue with local leaders at a meeting on June 17.
Residents Kristan Wulfkuhle and Rick Legner are helping to plan the meeting. They’ve invited local stakeholders, including the county sheriff, the chief of Buck Creek Township Fire Department, the superintendent of Mt. Vernon Community School Corporation and local politicians, along with other residents.
Wulfkuhle said the residents want to make themselves heard on the issue of economic development in their area. They don’t think their voices have been sought out so far.
“It’s obviously going to greatly impact our neighborhood and other neighborhoods,” she said.
The residents are hoping leaders will join with them in seeking solutions for some of the problems they believe are caused by the growth of TIF districts in Hancock County. Sheriff Brad Burkhart and Buck Creek Township Fire Department Chief Dave Sutherlin have said their services are strained by the need to provide assistance at the growing number of large warehouse/light industrial facilities in western Hancock County. Some homeowners say the large developments near their neighborhoods are decreasing their property values, eroding local roads and impacting quality of life.
Legner and Wulfkuhle said they believe the county should have waited until the completion of its new comprehensive plan, which is currently in progress. The document is intended to guide future land use in the county; the current comprehensive plan was created in 2005 and updated in 2012.
“We feel that they are moving ahead without the public’s approval,” Legner said.
Wulfkuhle said she believes the planning process for developments is in the wrong hands, and companies shouldn’t feel that promises have been made to them about where they can build and what benefits they can receive before a TIF district has even been approved.
Several legislative representatives of Hancock County, including Sen. Mike Crider and Reps. Bob Cherry and Chris Jeter, also plan to attend the meeting.
Cherry, R-Greenfield, said the loss of tax revenue from TIF districts is a major problem that impacts the amount of services the public sector is able to provide.
“I certainly think that TIF districts are robbing school districts as well as public safety,” Cherry said.
Cherry said it’s a common problem for communities to have a tax base that becomes stagnant because they are losing it to TIF districts. In exchange, companies could voluntarily make payments to school corporations or public safety agencies, he said, but they haven’t shown any inclination to do that.
Although the members of TIF commissions are appointed by elected officials, Cherry said it’s problematic from a public accountability standpoint because voters can’t simply vote out their members if they disagree with their decisions.
Cherry said units of government that support TIF districts need to realize that they’re missing out on tax revenue to support industrial development that would likely happen anyway. One example, he said, is Hancock County’s Progress Park: Although the location near Interstate 70 makes it a prime location for companies, they still receive tax abatements to build there.
Crider, R-Greenfield, said the problem of TIF districts pulling money from the public sector isn’t limited to just one community.
“Hancock County has an issue, but in the Marion County portion of my district, there are TIF districts that are layered on top of TIF districts,” he said.
Cherry said he’d like to pursue legislative solutions that allocate some of the money generated by TIF district revenue to different recipients. In the past legislative session, he introduced a bill that would have made a change to TIF district boards by adding a member representing the boards of any impacted school corporations. The bill did not advance past the committee level.
The meeting planned to discuss TIF district issues will be held on June 17 at Buck Creek Township Fire Department. An exact time for the event has not yet been scheduled. The organizers ask that residents who feel they have been affected by TIF districts in the county submit comments to [email protected].
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Residents opposed to the proposed Red Rock TIF district plan to meet with local lawmakers to discuss their objections to the project at the Buck Creek Township Fire Department on June 17. An exact time for the meeting has not yet been scheduled.
The organizers ask that residents who feel they have been affected by TIF districts in the county submit comments to [email protected].
Representatives in the state legislature along with the county sheriff, Buck Creek’s fire chief, and other stakeholders plan to attend.
Red Rock Investment Partners, LLC is planning three speculative buildings totaling more than 2.2 million square feet north of West County Road 200N and east and west of North Buck Creek Road. The new TIF district would be located between County Road 500N, Interstate 70 and County Road 800W.
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