Photo provided
An artist’s rendition of the field house component of the Nexus Park project at the former FairOaks Mall.
COLUMBUS, Ind. — Columbus City Council approved a lease on second reading with the Columbus Municipal Facilities Building Corp. to finance the fieldhouse planned for NexusPark, with one councilwoman again voting against the proposal.
The council also passed the first reading of an ordinance Tuesday approving parks bonds to fund Columbus Parks and Recreation facilities at the NexusPark campus. Ordinances must be passed on two readings to be fully approved.
Both votes were 6-1, with Councilwoman Elaine Hilber, a Democrat, opposed. Hilber has expressed concerns in the past about how Donner Center is not being prioritized and how the NexusPark project might impact availability of funding for other endeavors.
Additionally, she voiced apprehension about the taxpayer impact of the park bonds at Tuesday’s meeting.
The bonds are not to exceed $11.5 million and go to fund spaces for the Columbus Parks and Recreation Department — including recreational spaces and a new department headquarters — at NexusPark. According to city officials, these bonds will be payable from a special tax levied on the Columbus Park district.
Andrew Lanam with Stifel Financial Corp. said that a number of properties will not see an increase from this, as the levy is subject to tax caps.
Regular homestead exemption properties have a 1% tax cap; those already at the cap will not see an increase from the levy. For residential properties that are not at the cap, there will be an estimated increase of 0.39% to their overall tax bill. For a home with a gross assessed value of $125,000, the estimated increase would be $5.09 per year.
Properties with a tax cap of 2% — such as apartments or agricultural properties — would not see an impact because they are already at the tax cap. Properties with a 3% tax cap — such as commercial and industrial real estate — would see an estimated increase of 0.39%.
Hilber expressed concern about the estimated impact on homeowners.
“If I understand this correctly, we’re asking for the people who have the lowest assessed value properties to — they’re the ones that are going to be impacted by the increase,” she said. “As well as corporations, yes, I understand.”
“The folks that are already at the tax caps are paying 1% of the gross assessed value of their homes,” replied Lanam. “And due to the deductions for the lower end of the spectrum, the deductions are such a large percent of the overall gross assessed value that they’re not paying at that 1% level. … That’s just how it works.”
He added that the new bonds have been structured to wrap around existing bonds, which “has mitigated a pretty good portion of the overall tax rate increase.”
The costs associated with issuing the park bonds are estimated to be approximately $250,000, which would leave about $11.25 million available for project funding, said Lanam. The estimated cost of interest on the bonds is a little over $4.5 million.
For the complete story, see Thursday’s Republic.
