Enhanced districts come to Bloomington

A new Community Revitalization Enhancement District planned for an area of downtown Bloomington comes at a time when the Indiana Department of Workforce Development reported a growth of 1,600 new jobs in Indiana during May. \nAccording to a June 18 press release, Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan said that CRED will help with job creation and economic growth in Bloomington. \nThe CRED, which was named by the State Budget Agency, has boundaries that roughly follow west of Morton Street, east of Washington Street, south of Second street and north of 10th Street.\n"The applications for each CRED district are set up for different reasons," said Gov. Joe Kernan's Deputy Press Secretary Lisa Sirkin. In Bloomington's case, "it was set up to help with the downtown development," Sirkin said.\nSirkin said there are four main industries the Indiana Department of Commerce has targeted for advancement with CREDs. Advance manufacturing, distribution, high-tech and life science industries are all regarded as high growth industries for Indiana, Sirkin said.\nAccording to the Indiana Code CRED statues, any business that participates in a redevelopment effort by making certain investments such as purchasing new manufacturing equipment or improving infrastructure within a CRED can qualify for a tax credit of up to 25 percent of their investment.\nIn addition to a tax credit, the district's governing body can collect incremental state and local income taxes and sales tax that can be used to redevelop properties in the area.\nThe CRED statutes in the Indiana Code outline the standards by which a district is designated a CRED.\n"One of the Indiana Code statutes allows a second CRED in Bloomington to be developed in the future," said Dhiann Kinsworthy, an analyst in the State Budget Agency.\nKinsworthy said in an e-mail that a portion of the Indiana Code covers a subsequent CRED for first- and second-class cities. Bloomington is a second-class city, as determined by population. Indianapolis is the only Indiana city ranked as first-class. The required criteria to be met under this section revolves around the CRED providing an ability to promote growth of business or employment or retention of existing business, Kinsworthy said.\n"The CREDs help level the playing field for attracting business downtown," said Ron Walker, a spokesman for Mayor Mark Kruzan.\nDowntowns often lose opportunities because companies choose to build where land is cheaper rather than moving into downtown buildings where they face parking shortages and costly building renovations. For these reasons, and because the CRED will expire in 15 years, Bloomington is trying to make the most of its opportunity, Walker said. \n"Bloomington is making a push for technology and life science jobs. We are hoping the downtown CRED will attract those types of employers," he said.\nHelping market Bloomington as potential homes to companies, the Bloomington Economic Development Corporation has been an active member in promoting the city.\n"As more and more people begin to work in downtown, it becomes an attractive place to be," Walker said. "In time (the CREDs) will create more job growth and make downtown more valuable." \n-- Contact staff writer Karen Yancey at kaeyance@indiana.edu .