Council Committee Hears Proposals For Economic Improvement Districts

The Metropolitan and Economic Development Committee of the Indianapolis City-County Council heard two proposals at its meeting Monday.  Both involved the establishment of Economic Improvement Districts, which would create a property tax-funded board to fund and direct various development and improvement projects.

The first, for the Greater Virginia Avenue Corridor (GVAC), will come before the council with the recommendation of the committee. The second, for Downtown’s Mile Square, received neither the recommendation nor denial from the committee. Both plans are now pending final approval by the City-County Council at its next meeting.

The GVAC plan would generate an estimated $82,096. The Mile Square plan is projected to generate more than $3.1 million. Both proposals cited cleanliness and beautification, maintenance, and safety as key areas for spending. The Mile Square proposal emphasized the need to devote resources to addressing the homelessness problem downtown.

GVAC property owner and GVAC EID board member, Tom Battista, said the project, “is a way where everybody can contribute and be involved in making our area great.”

A little over 50 percent of property owners in both areas supported the proposals; however, the Indiana Apartment Association claims that support for the Mile Square proposal is less than 51 percent and that Downtown Indy, Inc. has miscounted the total number of property owners in the area.

The Mile Square proposal will now work to verify its support before the next council meeting on June 18, said Dennis Dye, principal with TWG Development.