Redevelopment commission approves amendment to Sportsplex financing to lower borrowing costs

The Hammond Redevelopment Commission on Oct. 21 approved Resolution No. 2025‑15 and two related contract amendments to revise the financing for the Sportsplex originally issued in 2018.

Staff said the original 2018 financing was for $6,000,000 at a 3.42% interest rate. This year a balloon payment or market increase prompted staff to seek options to avoid rebonding and the associated issuance costs. According to staff, a competitive process produced an offer from Horizon Bank at 4.94% for the remaining term, which staff characterized as preferable to facing a roughly 7% balloon rate. "Because Horizon Bank met the low interest rate, we're saving us all those issuance cost, and we can just do these amendments," a staff speaker said.

The commission voted first to approve Resolution No. 2025‑15, which authorizes the first amendment to the installment purchase contract and the first amendment to the participation agreement tied to the 2018 financing. Commissioners then voted to approve the installment purchase contract (Item 11) and to approve the first amendment to the participation and purchase agreements (Item 10). Each recorded roll call returned five yes votes; the measures passed unanimously.

Commissioners and staff described the action as a way to preserve the existing lender relationship with Horizon Bank and avoid the time and expense of issuing new bonds. Staff said the amendment will be paid from the Hammond Central TIF allocation. Staff also noted the amended arrangement reduces the effective interest burden compared with the higher balloon scenario that arose this year.

What happens next: the commission approved the resolution and the contract amendments on Oct. 21. The action was procedural and contractual in nature; no additional public hearings on the amendments were recorded during the meeting.