Jasper Redevelopment Commission Hears Fiscal Review and Municipal Pool Updates

In a brisk meeting on this rainy Tuesday morning, the Redevelopment Commission completed a fiscal review and heard updates on the Municipal Pool project. To open the meeting, the Commission was presented with the Acknowledgement of the April 15 th DLFG TIF Management Report. This report reviews the allocation of Jasper’s Department of Local Government Tax Increment Financing. 

The concept of TIF is that local taxing bodies make a joint investment in an area’s development or redevelopment of an area. Then, any profits are reinvested, subsidizing the project’s development. The report satisfies the requirement for an annual review of the TIF projects with funds allocated, specifically the expenditures, revenue, and reinvestments in each area. Clerk- Treasurer Knies presented the 2023 summary report to the Commission, reviewing the three TIF projects that remain with the City of Jasper. These include Central Allocation, the Riverfront, and University Heights.

The Commission indicated that in the future, they may consider a residential TIF project, which hasn’t always been available. This type of allocation was historically prevented by Indiana code, but because of housing shortages, the legislature began allowing it a couple of years ago. The Commission explained that this type of TIF project can be an incentive for developers in that it helps to defray some of the costs for housing development and infrastructure, making it more affordable and incentivizing the new construction of single-family housing. The current University Heights allocation in Jasper is a multi-family structure, so a residential TIF would be a different allocation type for Jasper than what exists at present. 
In an update on the much-anticipated Municipal Pool project, the Commission heard that demolition is currently underway. Tree clearing still needs to be completed, which is taking place now. The project will be moving to concrete work in the near future, which will hopefully be completed sometime this summer. The pool will be closed this season, and is slated to reopen in May of 2025. 

For more information on these and other updates, visit jasperindiana.gov or JasperGov-Indiana on Facebook.

 - By Drew Hasselbring