Ball State University’s Center for Business and Economic Research just released a study on Tax Increment Financing (TIF) arrangements, saying $320 million is diverted from the local tax base in Indiana.  Fishers has utilized TIFs for economic development, and  Mayor Scott Fadness takes issue with many of the Ball State findings.

Michael Hicks, Director of the Center and one author of the report, argues in the study that the amount of property tax money diverted from schools could fund 2,400 teachers. Fadness says schools generally cannot use property tax money to fund teacher salaries, unless it is from a referendum approved by the voters.

Fadness believed the TIF “issue is much more complex.”  He points to the two parking garages built in downtown Fishers, saying the commercial development that came with those structures would not have happened without TIF financing.

“This requires a thoughtful analysis,” Fadness says.  The mayor has read news accounts of the Ball State report.  Once he reviews the entire text of the report, he may comment further.

You can read Lindsey Erdody’s story about the Ball State TIF sudy at this link.

You can read the entire Ball State report at this link.