House Bill 1131 is authored by Rep. Ed Clere, and co-authored by Rep. Anthony Cook and Rep. Steven Stemler, and the legislation deals primarily with appointments to local boards and commissions.
HB 1131 has been amended, and is up for a vote on Tuesday in the House Government and Regulatory Reform Committee. Following is an overview of the bill — though note that the amendment does not change the housing authority provision.
Provides that if the executive or fiscal body of a municipality does not fill a vacancy in the municipal housing authority before the 61st day after the vacancy occurs, the remaining members of the housing authority shall fill the vacancy. Provides that the remaining members are authorized to fill the vacancy even if the number of remaining members is not sufficient for a quorum. Provides that an individual who is acting as a member of a housing authority 60 days after the expiration of the individual’s term as a member of the housing authority may continue to act as a member for purposes of filling the vacancy.
Here is a recap.
1. Commission membership and appointments
Both municipal and county redevelopment commissions will consist of seven members. Under current law, municipal redevelopment commissions consist of five members, and county redevelopment commissions may have either five or seven members.
The executive will continue to appoint three members (no more than two of one party), and the council will continue to appoint two members (one of each party). The political balance is new.
There will be one school board appointee. If more than one school corporation serves the municipality or county, the school board with the most members who live in the municipality or county will make the appointment. The appointee must live in the municipality or county.
The seventh member will be appointed by the council, upon a recommendation from the local LEDO.
2. Projects outside a TIF district
If revenue from a TIF district is used to fund projects outside the TIF district, the redevelopment commission will have to certify that the project will benefit the TIF district and result in the creation of private sector jobs.
3. Annual report
The Department of Local Government Finance will produce an annual report showing the effect of TIF on circuit breaker losses for each taxing district in a county. It will illustrate the circuit breaker change that would occur without TIF, and with 10 percent, 20 percent and 30 percent reductions in TIF assessed valuation (AV).
4. County council review
If the report shows extreme TIF pressure on circuit breakers, the council may require release of up to 20 percent of TIF AV, subject to debt service reserves. Extreme pressure is defined as a case in which releasing 20 percent of TIF AV would produce more than half of the amount of circuit breaker relief resulting from releasing 10 percent of TIF AV.
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Redevelopment commissions. Makes the following changes regarding commission membership: (1) Requires a county or municipal redevelopment commission (commission) to consist of seven members. (Under current law, a municipal commission must be five members, a county commission must be five members or seven members). (2) Requires one member to be appointed to a commission upon the recommendation of the local economic development organization (LEDO) of the territory served by the commission, or upon the joint recommendation by all LEDOS serving the territory within the jurisdiction of the commission. (3) Establishes political party membership requirements for some appointments. (4) Requires municipal and county commission members to reside within the territory under the jurisdiction of the commission. Provides that a member serving on a commission on June 30, 2017, that does not satisfy the residency or party membership requirements continues to serve out the member’s unexpired term. Requires the commission to comply with these requirements when appointing a successor member. Provides that allocated property tax proceeds may be expended for projects located outside a redevelopment district only if the commission adopts a declaratory resolution that finds that the expenditures: (1) will directly benefit the redevelopment district; and (2) will result in the creation of jobs in the private sector. Provides that the county council of a county in which a redevelopment authority is located may require redistribution to taxing units of up to 20% of the assessed value that is allocated to allocation areas if, when considering a reduction in the allocation in allocation areas from 10% to 20%, the amount of the reduction in losses due to the circuit breaker credits is exceeded by more than fifty percent (50%). Provides, however, that the county council may not make a redistribution to taxing units if: (1) the redistribution would effect debt service; or (2) there is no loss that meets the criteria for a distribution that is to a unit other than the municipality in which the allocation area is located, or a special service district that is wholly located within the boundaries of the municipality that established the allocation area. Requires the department of local government finance (DLGF) to annually prepare a report for each taxing unit that includes a calculation of the following: (1) The total property tax levy from the assessed value in the taxing unit and the amount of loss due to the circuit breaker credits. (2) The total property tax proceeds from the assessed value that exceeds the base assessed value in all allocation areas established within the taxing unit. (3) The effect, if any, on the amount of the tax levy or proceeds and the credit for excessive property taxes under IC 6-1.1-20.6 for the taxing unit and for the allocation areas if the allocation and distribution of tax proceeds in the allocation areas were: (A) eliminated; (B) reduced by 10%; (C) reduced by 20%; or (D) reduced by 30%. Requires the DLGF to: (1) post the report on the DLGF web site; and (2) file the report with the governor and the general assembly.
