May 29, 2010

What has the city council been up to?

May 5: Regular Session

Resolution 10-07: Waiving current payments in lieu of taxes by the Bloomington

Housing Authority to the city. The Housing Authority administers federal funds to provide affordable and subsidized housing to Bloomington residents. It is not subject to property taxes, but it did enter into an agreement to make “Payments in Lieu of Taxes” (PILOT) to the city in the 1960s. For many years now, the city has waived the PILOT in recognition of the services the Housing Authority gives to the community.

The Council voted unanimously in favor of this annual resolution.

Resolution 10-06: To approve an Enterprise Zone Investment Deduction (EZID) in the Thomson Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District - Re: Cook Pharmica,1300 and 1400 South Patterson Drive.

This resolution and the subsequent one allow property owners to file for an Enterprise Zone Investment Deduction on property improvements they make within the Bloomington Urban Enterprise Association’ enterprise zone. The BUEA was created in 1992 to encourage investment in downtown Bloomington and other areas close to downtown. Businesses that invest money in expansion, renovation, or other property improvements with the enterprise zone can apply for an Enterprise Zone Investment Deduction, which means they pay no takes for 10 years on the increased value of their property. 20% of the value of the deduction is paid by the property owner to the BUEA to administer its programs. These include funds for historic restoration within the zone, scholarships for residents to attend higher education, funding for business development, and funds for schools in the zone.

Businesses can file for the EZID without the city council’s approval. The reason Res. 10-06 and Res. 10-07 came to the city council is that these businesses are located within a Tax Increment Financing district. The TIF makes money off of increased property tax income. So in this case, granting the EZID will somewhat decrease the income in the TIF.

The Council voted unanimously in favor of this resolution, considering the many jobs the Cook Pharmica expansion provides and the large investment Cook has made in the area.

Resolution 10-09: To approve an Enterprise Zone Investment Deduction (EZID) in

the Thomson Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District - Re: Mike Weston, 1800 S. Walnut Street. This EZID was filed for an insurance office which used to be the site of a Noble Roman’s restaurant on S. Walnut St. Although the investment and the resulting jobs were not on the same scale as Cook Pharmica, the Council voted unanimously in favor of allowing the EZID to be filed.

Resolution 10-08: To authorize the submission of an application to the Indiana Office of Community and Rural Affairs by the Salvation Army to obtain funds for repairs and preventative structural work related to the floods of June 2008. The Council approved unanimously.

Resolution 10-04: To approve conveyance of the John Waldron Arts Center to Ivy Tech Community College. The agreement with Ivy Tech included the following:

1. The building will be quit-claimed to Ivy Tech with a requirement that no less than 70% be used as a community arts center.

2. Ivy Tech cannot rename or amend the name of the building or the spaces therein. They are allowed to add Ivy Tech signage.

3. WFHB will have guaranteed 2,223 s.f. rent free in the building. WFHB has to pay its own expenses related to its occupancy. This is the same as what they have been doing. WFHB will acknowledge sponsorship by Ivy Tech and work with IT to develop an internship program in exchange for waiver of rent.

4. Ivy Tech will purchase from the city the equipment and fixtures the city purchased from BAAC ($150,000).

5. Ivy Tech will honor all existing contracts for use of the space.

6. Public offerings of classes and performance space will continue.

7. Establishment of a Program Advisory Committee to advise on use of the building (not management of the building).

8. Reversion clause: If at any point, IT fails to comply with the agreement, the building shall revert to the city after a 30-day period.

This item was originally scheduled to be voted on in April, but there were some details that remained to be worked out between Ivy Tech and WFHB, and in the end WFHB fully supported the agreement. The Council voted 9-0 in favor.

May 12: Special Session

Resolution 10-10:  To Create a task force to recommend how the City can achieve a platinum designation from the League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle Friendly Communities Program by 2016. This resolution also declared May 17-21 “Bikes Week” in the City, a designation which recognizes the importance and benefits of bicycle transportation. Since 2003, Bloomington has been recognized as a “bronze” community in the Bicycle Friendly Communities program. The program assesses five areas related to bicycling in the city: education, enforcement, engineering, evaluation, and encouragement. The task force would evaluate how we are doing in these areas and make a plan of how we can improve to move from bronze to platinum in the ratings. The Council voted unanimously in favor.

May 12: Committee of the Whole

This was the second Committee of the Whole meeting to discuss water rate increases and bond issuance for improvements to the water utility.

Ordinance 10-06: To amend Title 9 of the Bloomington Municipal Code entitled "Water" (Rate Adjustment). The resolution would increase water rates a total of 47%, as follows:

22% to bring revenues in line with routing expenditures
13% to add a second water line from the Lake Monroe Water Treatment Plant to Bloomington
12% to expand and upgrade the water treatment plant

 The second water line was deemed necessary because currently we only have one line, and if something happens to that one line, water would not flow to the city ratepayers. The plant expansion and upgrade was deemed necessary because currently, if one part of the 40-7ear old plant breaks down, we don’t have the capacity to keep providing the ratepayers water for more than a couple of days. Sometimes it takes longer than that to make a repair. The work on the plant would also increase capacity from 24 million gallons a day to 30 million gallons a day.

I offered an amendment to this ordinance which would make the last portion of the rate increase 7% higher (for a total of 54% instead of 47%) in order to start paying a significant amount of the principle of the bond sooner and thereby saving approx. $9.6 million over 20 years. I thought this was the financially responsible thing to do.

Ordinance 10-07: This ordinance authorized the city to secure one or more bonds to pay for the second water line and the plant expansion and upgrades.

May 17: Special Session

Ordinance 10-06: The amendment increasing the rate increase from 47% to 54% (to save interest payments of $9.6 mil. in the long run) was adopted. The ordinance as amended was adopted 9-0.

Ordinance 10-07: This ordinance was adopted 9-0.

May 19 and May 26: No meetings due to lack of legislation.