The Bloomington City Council voted to table resolution 15-01, a proposed tax abatement on Big O Properties, LLC, a property management company that owns property in Bloomington.
The vote on the city council to table the resolution was unanimous.
The city council also voted in favor of canceling the related meeting on the ordinance that was to take place after the city council meeting Wednesday night.
Resolution 15-01 is the proposed tax abatement or delay on due taxes for ?Big O Properties.
The ordinance was set to be discussed at Wednesday night’s Bloomington City Council meeting, but Big O Properties asked the city council to delay the scheduled meeting on the ordinance.
Big O Properties ask the city council to table the reading on the tax abatement ordinance because of change in their plans for the proposed three-story building on South Walnut St., across from the ?Chocolate Moose.
The city council was set to hear a discussion and debate the ordinance during their Jan. 21 meeting but voted to cancel that meeting.
Councilman Dave Rollo, who was elected as the new Bloomington City Council President at Wednesday night’s meeting, said he has not made a decision on whether he favors the proposed tax abatement for ?Big O Properties.
“I need more information,” said Rollo in an interview after the meeting.
“(The proposal must) have a benefit to the community. I mean, the assessed value is going to go up, so that’s a benefit to the community.”
Big O Properties is set to build a three-story commercial and residential building on 338 S. Walnut St. after purchasing and demolishing a one-story building.
If passed, Resolution 15-01 and Ordinance 15-01 would have to designate 338 S. Walnut St. as an Economic Revitalization Area.
Since this site lies within the Downtown Tax Incremental Finance District, statute requires that the Council approve the ERA designation.
TIF Districts is a local financing device authorized by statute, which set aside increases in taxes on real estate above a base year that are then used to invest in the area, according to the plan for the district.
Any lowered property taxes would not be deposited in the TIF. The material indicates this process would not negatively affect the TIF because the current tax revenue is ?relatively small.
The project does not ?require any significant public investment, according to the council’s agenda packet.
Since the proposal to build a three-story mixed-use building, the assessed value of the property dramatically increased, meaning that the property management company will see their property taxes rise from about $4,000 to $40,875.
Rollo said he will factor more than the assessed value of the property into his decision.
“We want a building that is aesthetic, we want a building that is hopefully made of local materials,” Rollo said. “I’m concerned about energy efficiency, green building materials and what the use of the building is.”
Last spring, the city council approved a tax abatement for a different property owned by Big O Properties and the property management company is seeking another abatement from the city council.
New officers for 2015 were elected at the Wednesday night’s council meeting. Rollo was elected council president, while councilmen Andy Ruff was elected vice president.
A moment of silence for the death of former councilmen Anthony Pizzo took place at the meeting. Pizzo, a former Bloomington pathologist, died at ?93 years old.
All members of the council expressed condolences for the former councilmen, who served on the council from 1993-2003.
Councilman Steve Volan also expressed his condolences to 50-year-old Glenn Carter, a former addict. Volan commended Carter for his work as an advocate for those suffering from addiction.
