Redevelopment commission approves New Carlisle EDA expansion and bond appropriation amid resident concerns over Amazon TIF designation

The St. Joseph County Redevelopment Commission voted to confirm an expansion of the New Carlisle Economic Development Area and to appropriate bond proceeds for projects serving the area, despite public comments urging delay and greater transparency.

Staff presented Resolution 2024-17 as a confirming amendment to a prior declaratory resolution, saying the amendment would add about 304 acres and 34 properties, create a new allocation area No. 5 on New Carlisle's east edge, allow partnership with the town for utility and road improvements, and designate Amazon Web Services sites as "designated taxpayers" so personal property taxes from those sites can flow into tax-increment financing (TIF) allocation areas. The commission then opened a public hearing.

Steve Francis of Clay Township, who identified himself as having economic-development training, urged the commission to pause or at least wait for the County Council hearing on the declaratory resolution. He warned that "when you lock up up to 1 or $2,000,000,000 worth of funding... it's not available for the general tax base," said the funds would not go into the general fund if they are captured by TIF, and argued that such a designation could concentrate large revenues in a small area rather than spread them countywide. He asked the commission to consider tabling the confirmatory resolution until the council process ran its course.

Commissioners and staff responded with a process clarification: staff said personal property taxes will be collected regardless, and "if we don't create it, the personal property tax collection would go into the general fund and not the TIF funds," explaining the statutory order of approvals that moves the item from the redevelopment commission to area planning and then to the board of commissioners.

After the public hearing and discussion, the commission moved and seconded approval; roll-call votes were recorded as "Mister Lane — Aye," "Mister Horvath — Aye," and "Mister Jordan — Aye." The chair announced the motion carries. The confirmed amendment and related materials will next go to the County Council for its review.

The commission then considered Resolution 2024-18, presented by Tom Everett of Barnes & Thornburg, which appropriates the proceeds of redevelopment district bonds (previously authorized) and any investment earnings to fund property acquisition, road improvements and utility infrastructure within the New Carlisle EDA. The commission opened a public hearing on the appropriation; Steve Francis again commented online, reiterating that the declaratory resolution, not this confirmatory item, was scheduled before the council and asking for more public information on how bond proceeds would be allocated between the new allocation area and interchange work.

Following the hearing, the commission moved and seconded the bond appropriation and recorded the same roll-call pattern of ayes; the chair again announced the motion carries.

What happens next: the confirmed EDA amendment and the appropriation move forward in the normal statutory process and will be presented to the County Council for further review and any additional public input.

Quotes used in this report come from the meeting transcript and public commenters; all attributions are to speakers who identified themselves in the hearing or to the commission members as recorded on the roll call.