Redevelopment Spends $2 Million in Q1

(posted Mar 29)

Within three months of receiving a $5.7 million note, the Speedway Redevelopment Authority and Commission will end the first quarter of 2009 with just over $663,000.

As of March 27, Clerk Treasurer Sharon Zishka said "the balance of the Speedway Redevelopment Authority 'SRA' Account is $399,212.51 and the balance for the Speedway Redevelopment Commission 'SRC' Account is $264,442.69."

The SRC not only operates from the BAN funds but also receives Tax Increment Financing dollars. The SRC received $636,805 in tax increment financing in December 2008 that gave them an ending TIF balance of $761,310.

The SRA borrowed $5.7 million in December to pay off the SRC's previous BAN note of $3,169,309. The SRA also approved using the BAN proceeds to pay an estimated $1.6 million for the Electric Steel Casting site that was deeded to the commission.

At the March 15 SRC meeting, Executive Director Scott Harris said they would not be making offers to acquire property, even though Speedway Industrial Park, Speedway Monogramming and the former Jud Logan's Pub have been appraised.

The SRC has been trying to lobby for stimulus money to finance redevelopment. John Bartholomew, Department of Metropolitan Development PIO said that Speedway has requested stimulus money, but Metropolitan Planning Organization Director Lori Miser said "the projects were not shovel ready, therefore not meeting the stimulus criteria."

Bartholomew explained that Miser said there have been no rule changes for awarding stimulus money, referencing a March 27 article in The Indianapolis Star describing the MPO's criteria expansion. "There was a question asked if Hendricks County could pay for some of the project since it would eat up a third of the stimulus money," Bartholomew said.