OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Columbus Redevelopment Commission Regular Meeting – May 18, 2026

Meeting PortalMonday, May 18, 2026
BodyColumbus, Indiana
SessionMeeting Portal
DateMonday, May 18, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record

STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE

Transcript — Verbatim
0:01

Yeah, we're just gonna if they're school property to me, that's a good thing that's changed.

0:10

Right, the parent would have to be aware.

0:12

Because what do you do if we take his hip back?

0:16

I mean, there's gotta be there's gotta be some something out there is good not to go.

0:22

And the last thing you need to do I didn't I had nothing to do with that one.

0:31

Obviously, I say that.

0:32

Hello.

0:35

Yeah.

0:35

But you look at it while she's uh we'll begin the meeting.

0:39

Um today's fixed the problem.

0:42

Yeah.

0:43

I'm not sure.

0:47

So that's the simple I'm going to take roll call.

0:51

Cindy Bowl here.

0:53

Shannon McDonald.

0:54

Jim Linup.

0:55

Scott Ballard here.

0:56

Trina Carter here.

0:58

Also with us today, we have Heather Pope, director of redevelopment.

1:01

Grace Kessler, City Council liaison.

1:04

Jason Major, liaison from the BCSC board, Mary Stroud, CRC legal council.

1:09

And I see that Frank Miller is on line.

1:13

Hi, Frank.

1:15

Um, this is our regular monthly meeting of the redevelopment commission.

1:18

We have eight action items on our agenda today.

1:21

The first several items action items include the review and approval of the annual pass through considerations.

1:29

Each year, the redevelopment commission must review each of their TIF districts and determine if the Commission intends to capture their incremental assessed value for the following year.

1:40

Resolutions eight through twelve.

1:42

Consider the redevelopment commission's intent to capture twenty twenty-seven tax increment revenues for all the following allocation area areas.

1:50

The Central District, Airport District, Second Lafayette, Midtown, and Sixth and Washington.

2:02

Well, okay.

2:10

We can okay.

2:14

Okay.

2:14

Um, okay, now I see the presentation there.

2:18

Um, so um this is the uh annual pass through.

2:26

It's the June fifteen requirement.

2:28

Um I'll just maybe say next page if whoever's controlling that wouldn't mind um going through that.

2:38

You can skip that page.

2:40

I apologize.

2:41

I'm at a conference.

2:42

Um, I'm not gonna get a little bit of a on my cell phone to see what she wants me to do.

5:29

Okay.

5:30

Um I'll hang up and continue talking.

5:33

Did you hear any of it?

5:36

Oh.

5:38

I'll hang up.

5:39

Thanks.

5:41

Um, so I'll start.

5:43

The the June on the page that you see in front of us here, the June 15 reporting obligation, it gives you a little bit um uh more definition as to what is required of the redevelopment commission for this reporting obligation.

5:56

Um so each year prior to June 15th, you have to make a determination.

6:00

The redevelopment commission has to make a determination for each allocation area if you'll be passing assessed value through to the underlying taxing units, or if the redevelopment commission will be retaining that assessed value, which is what will generate TIFF for the 2027 calendar year.

6:20

Once you make a determination um between Heather and Michaela, they'll send out letters uh to the overlapping taxing units notifying them of the action that was taken.

6:30

Uh and we'll notify the county auditor as well, and then she uh is required to notify the Department of Local Government Finance, and all of this is due at this time of year, primarily because they'll be moving into budget season coming up, and this is one of the factors that determines the underlying tax base for each overlapping unit.

6:55

But this is to give you a sense of the um overlapping uh there we go.

7:02

So each TIP area uh has overlapping taxing districts, these are geographical boundaries.

7:09

Uh the airport, second Lafayette, six in Washington, those are all within the City of Columbus taxing district, uh City of Columbus Columbus Township, the consolidated uh central allocation area is in uh taxing district zero zero five, which is City of Columbus Columbus Township, and also City of Columbus Wayne Township, that's a zero two one, and in each one of those taxing districts, you have overlapping taxing units, and so the zero zero five, you can see the overlapping taxing units there and zero two one.

7:42

The only difference is the township.

7:44

Um the area at the bottom, allocation area two thousand twenty twenty-seven, uh uh revenues divided by expenditures, there is an expenditure test in the statute that you're required to do such that if the re projected revenues for 2027 exceed the projected expenditures by more than 200% or two times, then any action that you would take with respect to retaining assessed value uh would go on to the city council for final determination.

8:16

Uh that's not the case uh for the uh for the allocation areas this year, and we can go through and we'll show you uh the calculations as we proceed uh to the next page.

8:30

So this is a uh uh abbreviated summary the uh projected revenues for each allocation area for 2027 as well as the projected expenditures, and then so it's basically you have the big projected beginning the projected total expenditures, change in fund balance, excuse me, fund balance, ending fund balance, and then the pass-through 200% calculation where if that revenue divided by expenditures exceeded 200%, then the city council would make the final determination, but it um all for all of these allocation areas based on the 2027 budgeted revenues or projected revenues and projected expenditures, they are all less than that uh 200% number.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Redevelopment███████████████████████████████████████████43%
Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████████████████25%
Downtown Development█████████████████17%
Procedural█████████9%
Community Engagement██████6%
Summary of Proceedings

Columbus Redevelopment Commission Regular Meeting – May 18, 2026

The Columbus Redevelopment Commission held its regular monthly meeting on May 18, 2026, to consider annual TIF district pass-through determinations, a contract amendment, project updates, and routine approvals. All action items passed unanimously.

Consent Calendar

  • The commission approved the April 20, 2026 regular meeting minutes without discussion (motion by Shannon McDonald, second by Jim Linup, unanimous).
  • Claims presented for review and approval were also approved without objection (motion by Cindy Bowl, second by Scott Ballard, unanimous).

Discussion Items

Annual TIF Pass-Through Considerations (Resolutions 8–12) Heather Pope, Director of Redevelopment, presented the annual reporting obligation (due June 15) requiring the commission to decide for each allocation area whether to retain assessed value for TIF revenue in 2027 or pass it through to underlying taxing units. The expenditure test (revenues must not exceed expenditures by more than 200%) was satisfied for all areas: Central District, Airport District, Second Lafayette, Midtown, and Sixth & Washington (the latter has no revenues/expenditures but remains extant). The commission individually voted on each resolution:

  • Resolution 8 (Central District): Motion by Cindy Bowl, second by Shannon McDonald. Unanimous.
  • Resolution 9 (Airport District): Motion by Scott Ballard, second by Jim Linup. Unanimous.
  • Resolution 10 (Second Lafayette): Motion by Jim Linup, second by Scott Ballard. Unanimous.
  • Resolution 11 (Midtown): Motion by Shannon McDonald, second by James (Jim) Linup. Unanimous.
  • Resolution 12 (Sixth & Washington): Motion by Cindy Bowl, second by James Linup. Unanimous.

Contract Amendment – Bonnie Boatright (Resolution 13) Jake Seip, Community Development Director, and Bonnie Boatright presented a request to amend the project management contract for the Columbus Downtown 2030 plan. The original contract (2024, $75,000) had been exhausted. The amendment seeks an additional not-to-exceed $25,000 (plus $1,500 reimbursable expenses, total $26,500) to extend the contract through December 31, 2027. Ms. Boatright reported 38 active projects and 31 team members. The commission recognized her role in maintaining momentum, communication, and community engagement. Motion by Cindy Bowl, second by Shannon McDonald. Unanimous.

Project Updates Heather Pope provided status reports:

  • Second Street Improvement: Utility work (replacing 100+ year old clay pipes) is taking longer than anticipated. Road improvements (narrowing lanes, bump-outs, on-street parking, landscaping) expected to be complete by November; road work itself in about 10 weeks.
  • Riverfront Project: Amphitheater walls being poured; dam removal planned for July/August. Ribbon cutting targeted for October 23, 2026.
  • Arcadia Drive: Ribbon cutting scheduled for May 20, 2026 (two days after the meeting) at 1:00–2:30 p.m., with remarks from the mayor and Brian Burton.
  • Downtown Entrance Plaza: Bids received June 2; an additional appropriation will be sought from City Council.
  • Crump Center for the Performing Arts: Formal request under review; professional assessment expected next week.
  • Four Pack Plus Project RFQ: To be issued June 1, with responses due by end of July.

Key Outcomes

  • All five TIF pass-through resolutions (8–12) were adopted unanimously, retaining incremental assessed value for 2027 in each district.
  • Resolution 13 (Bonnie Boatright contract amendment) was approved unanimously, authorizing up to $26,500 through December 31, 2027.
  • The April 20, 2026 meeting minutes and claims were approved without objection.
  • The meeting adjourned after all action items were completed.

Meeting Transcript

Yeah, we're just gonna if they're school property to me, that's a good thing that's changed. Right, the parent would have to be aware. Because what do you do if we take his hip back? I mean, there's gotta be there's gotta be some something out there is good not to go. And the last thing you need to do I didn't I had nothing to do with that one. Obviously, I say that. Hello. Yeah. But you look at it while she's uh we'll begin the meeting. Um today's fixed the problem. Yeah. I'm not sure. So that's the simple I'm going to take roll call. Cindy Bowl here. Shannon McDonald. Jim Linup. Scott Ballard here. Trina Carter here. Also with us today, we have Heather Pope, director of redevelopment. Grace Kessler, City Council liaison. Jason Major, liaison from the BCSC board, Mary Stroud, CRC legal council. And I see that Frank Miller is on line. Hi, Frank. Um, this is our regular monthly meeting of the redevelopment commission. We have eight action items on our agenda today. The first several items action items include the review and approval of the annual pass through considerations. Each year, the redevelopment commission must review each of their TIF districts and determine if the Commission intends to capture their incremental assessed value for the following year. Resolutions eight through twelve. Consider the redevelopment commission's intent to capture twenty twenty-seven tax increment revenues for all the following allocation area areas. The Central District, Airport District, Second Lafayette, Midtown, and Sixth and Washington. Well, okay. We can okay. Okay. Um, okay, now I see the presentation there. Um, so um this is the uh annual pass through. It's the June fifteen requirement. Um I'll just maybe say next page if whoever's controlling that wouldn't mind um going through that. You can skip that page. I apologize. I'm at a conference. Um, I'm not gonna get a little bit of a on my cell phone to see what she wants me to do. Okay. Um I'll hang up and continue talking. Did you hear any of it? Oh. I'll hang up. Thanks. Um, so I'll start. The the June on the page that you see in front of us here, the June 15 reporting obligation, it gives you a little bit um uh more definition as to what is required of the redevelopment commission for this reporting obligation. Um so each year prior to June 15th, you have to make a determination.

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