By Former State Representative Gail Riecken
MARCH 12, 2024
Recently 2 of the 3 members of the Vanderburgh County Commissioner voted to approve the E-Rep $300,000 “annual agreement” to support their work in attracting industry and jobs, an agreement that funds or has the appearance of funding a political action arm of E-Rep. I hope that E-Rep will choose not to start the political advocacy group, J-PAC.
E-Rep receives taxpayer monies and taxpayer-awarded monies cannot be used for political lobbying or supporting political candidates. I feel that even the appearance that E-Rep might use public taxpayers’ money to promote political activities should be avoided at all costs.
At the most recent County Commission meeting E-REP attorney Micheal Schopmeyer attempted to assure County Commissioners that J-PAC and E-Rep missions are entirely separate. There is no way to avoid co-mingling of monies or at least the appearance of such.
At the meeting, their attorney made a statement that I think is very curious and convinced me that adopting an advocacy group is the wrong direction for E-Rep.
E-Rep’s attorney Michael Schopmeyer said that the advocacy group is to be bipartisan, which, of course, is as it should be. However, the fact that their attorney thought he had to make such a point about a bipartisan group makes me think E-Rep realizes there would be a negative response among some members if they thought there was partisanship in the advocacy group. These members know business and industry would look negatively at any appearance of partisanship in E-Rep or in this new advocacy group.
If E-Rep wants political advocacy for some concern, members have the freedom now to talk to individuals and organizations outside their organization, not directly affiliated with E-Rep. Certainly, that would include elected officials, those representatives whom taxpayers already pay to devote their time and effort to helping our region grow.
E-Rep should change course. There is a lot at stake. Even if E-Rep says funding is separate from taxpayer monies, E-Rep initiating a political advocacy arm is not worth the risk of misinterpretation or unintentional co-mingling.
Evansville has lost its population over the last few years. The estimated population now in 2022 is 115,749. The population in 2020 was 117,291 (census. gov)-about the same as 10 years preceding. Evansville must grow. We need everyone working together for economic growth, and working above board, and that means staying above any appearance of being involved in the political process.
Knowing the population of Evansville is not growing, I have another concern. The City Council has established yet another Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) district. I know about Tax Incremental Financing. I was on the City Council when it was developed. What a TIF does is grab property tax dollars in a defined area to pay for some specific purpose in that new district.
When TIFs were introduced, there were warnings about the ability to pay and overuse, but the philosophy (those who benefit pay), was too good to pass. Today there are legitimate questions about the number of TIFs and their ability to pay their debt as designed.
Citizens need to question what will happen if property tax revenue in a TIF doesn’t pay for the increased tax burden of the project. There is a larger question, what if the entire community appreciates and agrees to support and fund this special project, what can Electeds do other than impose another layer of bureaucracy?
While TIFs can fund additional administration and sell bonds to fund projects and infrastructure, closer inspection will show that Tax Incremental Financing districts are one of the most complex taxing mechanisms available.
Citizens and taxpayers can quickly understand the difficulty and complexity of TIF districts by asking local government a few questions, and I encourage these inquiries:
A map of all current TIF districts in Evansville
A map of all prior TIF districts in Evansville
The express purpose of each TIF district
What year was the TIF district created?
The term of each TIF district (usually they are approximately 20 years)
Has the TIF district been “renewed” or has the TIF district been retired?
A yearly financial report on each TIF district (both current and retired)
Engage your City Council representative to help obtain that information. While I prefer not to be the “bearer of bad news”, I will warn you. The above questions will likely consume months to acquire and multiple visits to numerous offices at the Civic Center. Disappointment may be the only result of your investigation.
So, when you think of TIF districts, think also of citywide projects you think should be supported and not special interest projects that would add another layer of bureaucracy through the TIF.
When you think of public advocacy groups like what E-Rep wants, think of how they should be spending their time and effort more productively like working with Center Point to design a better plan for energy in our area.
And, just a note, that I can’t forget to mention. I was very offended at the attitude of Michael Schopmeyer in his approach to an Elected Official, Commissioner Musgrave, but I was profoundly disappointed by the fellow Commissioners for not standing up for her. In all the years of serving the public, I never heard such disrespect from a presenter, and believe me, I have been in more than one emotional public meeting.
