Greenwood wants option to fund school, library projects

Greenwood wants to allow the property taxes it collects in an economic development area near the mall to be used in partnerships with the county, townships, libraries and schools.

Greenwood city council members are considering making changes to the Fry Road and U.S. 31 economic development plan, which would allow for collaborative projects, where city tax dollars fund specific projects for the schools or library, for example. It is the only one of four TIF districts in the city that does not allow for these kinds of partnerships.

In a tax increment financing, or TIF, district, property taxes on any new developments are set aside for infrastructure and economic development projects for the city, rather than being spread out among the other governmental agencies. Indiana law allows for TIF districts to collect taxes for 25 years.

The goal of the collaborative projects program is to give the city’s redevelopment commission the ability to work with and help fund projects that would be mutually beneficial to both the city and other governmental agencies that have property overlapping with the TIF district, including Johnson County, the Solid Waste District, Pleasant Township, Greenwood Public Library and Greenwood Community Schools, said Greg Wright, city controller.

“The impetus to make this change came out of meetings between city leadership and leadership of the three school districts that have students in Greenwood,” Wright said.

“As options were being explored for ways to allow the city to partner with the schools to find ways to benefit our constituencies, city staff concluded that the Fry Road TIF district did not include the language to support the use of funds for the collaborative projects initiative.”

Other cities also use TIF funds to pay for certain projects for other governments. For example, the city spent $500,000 out of its TIF district in 2014 to purchase Chromebooks for Franklin students.

The Fry Road and U.S. 31 TIF district covers 286 acres and includes all properties in and around the Greenwood Park Mall, as well as those located on the west side of U.S. 31, and in the Spring Hill neighborhood south of Fry Road.

Although it’s the smallest of the four TIF districts, it, along with the Eastside TIF which encompasses more than 6,100 acres, generate the most money, Wright said.

“By not having it included in the collaborative project program, the (redevelopment commission) was much more limited in the available funding for projects,” he said.

Recently, the Fry Road and U.S. 31 TIF was used to pay for improvements along Madison Avenue and to purchase and demolish the former Patriot’s Table, 1265 North Madison Avenue, Wright said.

This particular TIF district was established in 1998. Originally, it focused primarily on investments and road improvements, according to city documents.

In 2014, the city changed the economic development plan to include new streets and public trails. Last year, they changed it again to include improvements to Madison Avenue, particularly for pedestrian and bicycle traffic near the mall.

This new change has already been approved by the city’s economic development commission and plan commission, and will now have to go through two rounds of votes at the city council. If approved both times, the change could take affect on Jan. 7.