Redevelopment commission approves Barnes & Thornburg engagement for Prometheus funding; allocation area and state tax changes remain unresolved

The Greene County Redevelopment Commission voted to approve an engagement letter with Barnes & Thornburg to provide legal services tied to the Prometheus development and related financing arrangements, the commission said during its meeting.

The engagement letter, which commissioners approved by voice vote, does not list hourly rates or a fixed fee; county officials said Barnes & Thornburg will staff matters with differing attorneys and assistants as needed. "We don't have to pay it," Rich Starkey, attorney with Barnes & Thornburg, said during the meeting, adding the firm has worked with the county before and that the county will attempt to shift fees to the developer where contracts allow.

Why it matters: The legal work supports a financing structure that relies on a new tax increment financing (TIF) allocation area and a bond-like pledge of future tax increment. If approved, the arrangement would allow the Redevelopment Commission to receive incremental tax allocation from new commercial and industrial development…