Press Release
Community Activist Files Lawsuit to Stop TIF Proposal
Being Considered in Violation of City Ordinance
Being Considered in Violation of City Ordinance
Contact Person: Paul K. Ogden, Attorney at Law
317-297-9720
(office); pogden297@comcast.net
Date: September
17, 2012
Private citizen Clark Kahlo today
filed a lawsuit asking that a Court put the brakes on the expansion of the
Downtown tax increment financing district.
Kahlo's lawsuit claims that a
city ordinance requires that tabled motions be removed from the table within
six months or they are considered dead and have to be removed from the list of
pending proposals. Proposal 15, the
downtown TIF expansion proposal which includes Massachusetts Avenue, was tabled
by Councilor Vop Osili at the February 6, 2012 meeting of the Metropolitan and
Economic Development Committee ("MEDC") and not taken off the table
until the August 27, 2012 meeting of the MEDC. The lawsuit alleges that the
Proposal is dead and that it is a violation of the ordinance for the full
Council to consider the Proposal at tonight's meeting.
The lawsuit also notes the
MEDC failed to hold a vote on an amendment to the Proposal 15, which amendment
reflected a backroom deal to gain the support of additional counselors for the
expansion.
Attorney Paul Ogden, who
filed the lawsuit on behalf of Mr. Kahlo, noted the short period of time before
the Council's meeting tonight saying:
"I hope that Council President Lewis will do the right thing and
pull the proposal from consideration. In
light of the City's ordinance limiting tabled motions to a life of six months,
if the Council passes Proposal 15 the measure will be in legal limbo. The right thing to do is to remove the
measure from consideration and have the councilors supporting it to reintroduce
it if they so choose."
Proposal 15 seeks to expand
the consolidated downtown TIF in two directions - to the east by 112 acres for
the purported purpose of financing development on 0.8 acres on Massachusetts
Avenue and to the west by 604 acres to finance the development of a couple
acres near the old Bush Stadium.
The lawsuit notes that many
of the 45 TIF districts in Indianapolis are underperforming and take property
taxes away from schools, libraries, parks and public safety. The lawsuit also discusses that the
Indianapolis-Marion County Tax Increment Financing Commission found that there
is little transparency and oversight when it comes to the Indianapolis TIF districts.
The Commission's several recommendations regarding the creation of TIF
districts are on the agenda to be introduced at tonight's meeting.
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2 comments:
So now I see that Paul is not letting any negative comments appear on his page...very interesting indeed.
Paul seems to be able to sling a lot mudd ,,but can't take it when it is being thrown his way....
Paul, your making some pretty strong accusations,,lets se if you can back them up..You accuse Vop Osili of doing this for personal gain? Really? Lets see your proof, if not you owe someone an apoligy.
I chuckled at the 'Prayer for Relief' section, I'm surprised the ACLU hasn't made the courts change that to "Request for Relief'.
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