St John council advances several TIF and development ordinances, defers Unified Development Ordinance after transparency concerns

St John — The St John Town Council on Jan. 28 moved forward on multiple development- and finance-related measures while deferring a large overhaul of land-use rules after members of the public raised transparency concerns.

The council voted to advance on first reading several ordinances that would authorize the town to issue economic-development tax-increment revenue bonds for projects in designated allocation areas. Councilors described Ordinance 18-84 as authorizing bonds for a mixed-use commercial project of roughly 120,000 square feet on 109th between Barish and Park, and said Ordinances 18-85, 18-86 and 18-87 relate to other commercial and housing projects in specified economic-development areas. Ordinance 18-88 designates an allocation area where TIF dollars for those projects will be drawn.

Tom Everett of Barnes & Thornburg, serving as bond counsel, told the council these bonds would be payable only from the new property taxes generated by each project and that the town would not be required to make up any shortfall if assessed values come in below estimates. "So the town will never be on the hook if properties are not assessed at what they're estimated to be," Everett said; instead, he said the developer purchasing the bonds would bear the risk.

On the Unified Development Ordinance (Ordinance 18-83), councilors agreed the document — roughly 245 pages — requires more review. A motion to defer the ordinance to a subsequent meeting carried 4–0.

Members of the public used the public-comment period to press the council on related issues. Jane Wallace and Donna Fasky said annexations and pre‑annexation agreements have, in practice, bypassed Plan Commission review and public scrutiny; Fasky said an open-house presenter told attendees the UDO would not apply to pre‑annexation agreements and urged that the council publish agendas with linked documents to increase transparency. Doug Blocker requested that the council provide developer names, project locations, intended uses of bonds, and cost estimates for projects that will seek TIF support.

The council also approved a variety of routine finance and operations motions: approval of 23 requests to purchase totaling $1,202,645.48; authorization to disburse funds from 2025A and 2025B construction accounts via trustee; awards of professional-services agreements for 2026 (Robinson Engineering, American Structure Point, McAlpine Consulting, First Group Engineering); a $230,000 contract award to Inliner Solutions LLC to rehab culverts on Osage Drive; two small donations ($500 each) to local education foundations; and resolutions to write off uncollectible accounts and carry 2025 encumbrances into 2026.

The council approved an accounts-payable voucher listed in the transcript as $200,096,063,914.66; the recorded amount appears to be a transcription error and was not corrected during the meeting record.

Votes on first-reading ordinances and the listed motions were recorded as voice votes and carried by the council, generally recorded as 4–0. Ordinance 18-83 (the Unified Development Ordinance) was deferred; the other ordinances listed above advanced on first reading.

Next steps: Deferred Ordinance 18-83 will return for further review at a future meeting; first-reading ordinances will follow the council’s normal second-reading and adoption process.