Monday night, the Fishers City Council approved a $5 million bond to finance the purchase of land for a new city park located on Geist Reservoir’s waterfront. The only dissenting vote came from Councilwoman Selina Stoller, who also voted “no” on the bond in last week’s City Council Finance Committee meeting.
A $12 million bond is currently in place, but the eminent domain process has valued the land roughly $6 million more than the city’s offer to purchase the parcel from IMI Incorporated. That required the additional bond to complete the purchase through the state’s condemnation process.
Council President Todd Zimmerman allowed public comment before the vote. Former Fishers Town Councilman Mike Colby and former Democratic Council candidate Greg Purvis both spoke against the bond issue, citing to the possibility of ongoing costs the city may face in the future developing this park.
The council voted unanimously to suspend the rules, allowing a final vote on the bond Monday. Stoller voted to suspend the rules and allow a final vote Monday, but voted “no” when the bond was up for approval.
In another financial item, the council voted unanimously to re-establish a Cumulative Capital Development Fund for 2019. City staff told council members this simply conforms current systems to changes in state law. Some local residents apparently were under the impression that passing the establishment of this fund would raise the city tax rate by 5 cents for each $100 of assessed property valuation. City officials assured those at the session that the mechanism for consideration of such an increase is not changed by this vote and the city has no plans at this time to raise the local property tax rate for this fund.
In one more financial matter, the council unanimously approved a study done by Policy Analytics, an independent firm commissioned by the city, to conduct a study of data related to the use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) in economic development. Mayor Scott Fadness plans to present the report to the Hamilton Southeastern School Board next month. You can read the report at this link.
Finally, Todd Muth of the Fishers Fire Department was recognized by the council for an Employee Service Award.