Two major Dubois County housing projects received a financial boost from county officials Monday night, but just how much money those developments will kick back to the county is undecided.

After a discussion that lasted the length of a feature film — 93 minutes in total — the Dubois County Council voted 5-1 in favor of providing $200,000 in economic development funds for two housing developments near 14th and Vine streets in Jasper.

Councilwoman Becky Beckman abstained from voting, citing a conflict of interest as her employer Tri-Cap is a partner in the project. Councilwoman Martha Wehr was the lone vote in opposition, citing concerns with the location of the development within a City of Jasper tax incremental fund district, which blankets much of Jasper’s downtown and keeps any increases in assessed property tax value in that district for the next 25 years. The two properties are valued in the thousands of dollars, but are expected to rise into the millions.

“Every resident in the county and in the city, as a matter of fact, their taxes will more than likely go up because you’re losing that tax base,” Wehr said.

Both developments are headed up by Cincinnati-based Miller-Valentine, which already has plans to place about 70 workforce housing units into the former Jofco building for a project called Jasper Lofts, and on Monday was seeking additional funds to add about 40 more units of workforce housing into that building as well as 62 units of senior housing in the former Monster Recycling building nearby. The county council approved $100,000 in county funds for each project, upon 75 percent completion.

The City of Jasper has already agreed to contribute $450,000 to the housing development, which includes tax abatement funding and money from the city’s economic development income tax fund. In addition, the city is planning to provide another $50,000 in off-site improvements, such as landscaping and streetscaping. The captured TIF dollars must be used for endeavors located in the TIF district, so Jasper has much to gain from the developments. But Monday night, the county council debated if the losses in property taxes would be outweighed by extra income tax and sales tax that could be created by cleaning up a rundown area, re-purposing abandoned and unsafe buildings and attracting people to move into the county.

“The investment always drives everything after that,” said Ed Cole, president of Dubois Strong, the county’s economic development group.

Cole was joined by Jasper Mayor Terry Seitz in his push for the developments, which has been spearheaded by Pete Schwiegeraht, a senior developer with Miller-Valentine. Seitz said the council’s opposition to the TIF district — and especially to the projects — showed a lack of belief in the City of Jasper and disregarded its importance as the county seat, making up 40 percent of the county’s population and the majority of taxes paid to the county.

“Since when has the county seat of Jasper ... ceased to count to the county,” Seitz said. “I truly wonder.”

Cole, Seitz and Schwiegeraht all added that what is good for Jasper is good for the county. Schwiegeraht said the developments seemed like a “home run” to him.

The amount of community reinvestment from the two projects is near $25 million and Miller-Valentine will next month apply for state tax credits. Schwiegeraht noted that Miller-Valentine’s chances of being awarded the competitive credits will increase with local funding contributions. Schwiegeraht said there are about 50 applicants for the credits and about 10 winners. The applicants are graded on a point system and Schwiegeraht said the county’s funding would be worth nearly two points. Sometimes, projects lose out on funding by a half point.

“It does come down to every dollar,” Schwiegeraht said.  

While the final vote wasn’t close, every council member expressed opposition to the TIF district. Councilman Nick Hostetter was upset about the development’s location, but also said the housing could generate $30,000 a year in county economic development tax funds if fully occupied.   

“I don’t like that it’s in a TIF district, but I don’t want to lose this project,” Hostetter said.  

Council President Greg Kendall, who runs a barbershop not far from the potential housing, said he came into the meeting “100 percent against” funding it. He changed his mind, mentioning he couldn’t delay development in an area he considers rundown.      

“The people outside the city limits will reap nothing from the TIF area for 25 years,” Kendall said. “But for God’s sake, I don’t want to be responsible for this place staying the way it is.”     
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