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Whitestown EIB discusses expanding economic-improvement district boundaries, plans outreach form
Summary
Members discussed a simplified statutory change allowing updates to EID boundaries, an outreach form to invite property owners and tenants to join, and plans to include the expansion step in incentive requests; no formal vote was taken.
The Whitestown Economic Improvement Board discussed a plan to make it easier to update the boundaries of the town’s Economic Improvement District and steps for outreach to property owners and tenants.
Board members and staff described a recent review that found a change to the governing statute would permit the board to update district boundaries; staff said they are drafting a simple form to be used with incentive requests and intend to finalize that form for use by the board later this year.
Board members said the form would be included in requests for incentives presented to the redevelopment commission and council president, and that the board would also contact existing district property owners who have parcels outside the current district to invite them to participate. The discussion noted that reaching the right audience is difficult because utility bills and lease arrangements mean tenants—not always property owners—are the day-to-day users of sites the board may want to enroll.
Members suggested supplementing mailed outreach with employer-facing outreach tied to the town’s marketing plan and with materials that employers or landlords could post in workplace break rooms to encourage employee interest in joining the district. Staff said they will work with the outreach and marketing teams to try those techniques and that an updated, finalized form is the near-term deliverable.
A board member outlined how the annual assessment would be explained to potential participants, saying the assessment is calculated at about $500 for every $1 million of assessed property value. The board set a goal of having outreach materials and the enrollment process ready by the board’s fall meeting (the board identified an October meeting date) and completing outreach by the end of the calendar year.
No motion or formal vote was taken on the expansion during the meeting; the item was discussed as unfinished business and staff were tasked with preparing materials and outreach for future consideration.
