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La Porte redevelopment commission approves expansion to encompass Microsoft project on Boyd Boulevard
Summary
The commission passed a declaratory resolution to amend the La Porte Consolidated Economic Development Area and designate Boyd Boulevard Allocation Area Number 2 to include Microsoft’s property; the plan sets a base assessment date of 01/01/2026 and a 25‑year allocation term. The motion passed unanimously (4–0).
The La Porte Redevelopment Commission on July 29 approved a declaratory resolution to amend the La Porte Consolidated Economic Development Area and to designate the entirety of the 2026 expansion area as Boyd Boulevard Allocation Area Number 2, a change intended to include property associated with the Microsoft project.
Bert Cook, executive director of the La Porte Economic Advancement Partnership, described the project and the need to expand the allocation area so the redevelopment district can capture tax increment revenue tied to the company’s site. “Microsoft is under construction right now on 489 acres, which we call phase 1 of their project,” Cook said, and he added that the company recently completed annexation of an additional 1,300 acres for phase 2.
The resolution cites Indiana Code provisions that allow creation and expansion of economic development and allocation areas and sets the base assessment date for Boyd Boulevard Allocation Area Number 2 as Jan. 1, 2026. It designates Microsoft Corporation and its successors or affiliates as the "designated taxpayer"; for those purposes the commission found that taxes attributable to depreciable personal property on the designated site may be used to secure bonds or lease rentals to provide local public improvements serving the allocation area. The resolution also states that allocation provisions will expire 25 years after the first obligation is incurred to pay bonds or lease rentals payable from tax increment revenues.
The document states the commission has not at this time proposed to acquire any specific parcels in the expansion area and that it finds no residents in the expansion area will be displaced by projects resulting from the plan. Cook said the resolution and supporting data will be submitted to the City of La Porte Plan Commission and the City Council and, if approved, proceed to a public hearing and remonstrance process required by statute.
A motion to approve the declaratory resolution was made, seconded, and passed unanimously (4–0). The commission’s approval begins the statutory sequence of reviews and notices that will include the Plan Commission and City Council before a final confirmatory resolution is adopted.
