Latest news with #LoriLatham
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
From Schools to Taxes: How Recent Indiana Laws Impact Gary
What happens at the Statehouse certainly doesn't stay there, and for cities like Gary, the ripple effects are impossible to ignore. As Indiana lawmakers wrapped up this year's legislative session, several key bills, namely SB 1 and HB 1001, emerged that could reshape how Gary collects tax revenue and even communicate major decisions to residents. Local and state lawmakers warn these changes could threaten Gary's finances and strain the public school district. The long-standing compact between the cities of Gary and Chicago that established the Chicago-Gary Regional Airport Authority is set to be formally dissolved. Under the new legislation, the Gary Common Council is required to take specific steps to terminate the agreement, which was originally enacted in 1995, by Jan. 1, 2026. By July 1, 2025, a majority of Gary's appointed representatives to the airport authority must adopt a resolution endorsing the termination, and the Gary Common Council must pass an ordinance to make it official. The law also directs the dissolution of a separate airport authority board previously established by Gary. This marks a significant shift in regional transportation planning and governance, raising questions about the future of the Gary/Chicago International Airport and its role in cross-state economic development. The Common Council created a new committee to exclusively address state legislation that Council President Lori Latham recognized as a persistent roadblock for Gary's progress. 'It's not lost on us that every time we try to either build, establish or maintain an economic development driver in our community that the state has something to say or do about it,' Latham said, addressing the prescribed changes. Councilman Darren Washington, who will chair the committee, questioned the legality of the bill, stating the council would be conferring with its legal counsel as well as the administration's. ''To arbitrarily, at the last minute — it was literally the night before [the] session ended that language was stuck in House Bill 1001 to put the onus of the Gary Common Council to end the compact,' he said. 'I don't know if that is legal.' Local state legislators like state Rep. Vernon Smith expressed concern over the bill's impact on Gary schools. 'I fail to see how this budget invests in our communities and our families,' Smith said in a statement provided to Capital B Gary. 'Our schools will have just enough to stay afloat, but they won't have the funding they need to thrive. Like always with the state legislature, Gary will get little.' 'The funding for urban schools in this budget is insufficient,' Smith continued. 'It puts Gary Community School Corporation in a difficult position. The state takeover of our school board due to financial distress just ended in 2024. GCSC has to stay in the black, and the state isn't doing anything to help.' If the city of Gary or the Gary Community School Corporation wants to raise property taxes through a referendum, they now have stricter rules to follow. These ballot questions — where voters are asked to approve extra funding for things like school improvements or city projects — can appear only during general elections in November. Local officials also have a firm deadline: They must submit the request by noon on Aug. 1 to get it on the ballot. And for school districts in Lake County, including Gary, any referendum passed after May 10, 2023, could require some of that new tax money to be shared with nearby charter schools — even if the vote was intended to support traditional public schools. Gary's last referendum vote was during the 2020 general election, when voters approved a $71.2 million property tax measure to support the Gary Community School Corporation. By Jan. 1, 2026, the state will launch an online portal designed to make property taxes easier to understand. For Gary residents and taxpayers across the state, this tool will let residents see how their current property tax bill compares to what it would be if proposed tax rates change in the future. The website will also break down what deductions and credits they might be eligible for and give them a chance to share feedback directly with state and local officials. State Rep. Earl Harris Jr., who voted against both bills, said he didn't see any benefit for Lake County. 'Along with the impact of House Bill 1001, Lake County is set to lose hundreds of millions of dollars thanks to Senate Bill 2,' he said. 'This budget will do nothing to help Lake County residents, who will pay much more in local income taxes while getting minimal property tax relief. No one wins under this budget.' The post From Schools to Taxes: How Recent Indiana Laws Impact Gary appeared first on Capital B Gary.
Chicago Tribune
09-04-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Gary council committee hears update, public comment about old school development plans
After a proposal was sent back to committee, Gary Common Council members heard updates and public comment about a development planned for the shuttered Alfred Beckman Middle School site. The council's planning and development committee, on Tuesday, hosted a meeting and public hearing about the proposal. Eight council members were present for the hearing, with acting President Lori Latham, D-1st, absent. The meeting allowed potential developers and a representative from the city zoning department to present changes made to the proposal, which originally received an unfavorable opinion from both the Gary Plan Commission and zoning staff. Residents also could express their opinions during public comment. Indiana Investment Properties, the petitioner, asked to rezone the former middle school, 1430 W. 23rd Ave., from R2 residential to a planned unit development, or PUD, and B3-1, which allows for shopping centers or large stores. Heitman Architects, an Illinois-based developer, would create a 'commercial business planned development' that will focus on manufacturing, according to project documents. Gary residents have called the proposed development a truck stop, which developers and council members said is not the case. Corrie Sharp, primary contact for the Gary Zoning department, met with the developers to address project concerns, including building height and traffic in the area. Sharp and developers were encouraged to meet before the planning and development meeting. With the updated ordinance, a new timeline for the potential project was included, with demolition happening within eight months, development must be commenced within 18 months, and the primary structure must be completed within three years of the ordinance passage. The updated ordinance also addressed traffic concerns, saying trucks must enter and exit off 22nd Avenue and leave 23rd Avenue open for car access. Updates also add more landscaping and fencing to the proposed development, Sharp said. The building height will not exceed 50 feet, Sharp said, and a secondary structure's height cannot exceed 22 ½ feet. Jim Wieser, the proposed project's attorney, supported changes made to the proposal. 'I believe that we've responded as best we can,' he said. 'In my own opinion, there possibly may be a few minor changes to make, but they're not substantive.' Even with changes, various residents expressed concerns for the project at Tuesday's meeting, calling for better vetting of the developer and ensuring they will hire Gary residents to work at the facility. 'We've had bad, disastrous and sometimes even scandalous results when we don't seriously vet those who want to come to Gary without saying what we want to hear, mainly jobs and revenue,' said resident Carolyn McCrady. McCrady opposes the development because it will bring manufacturing and trucking to a neighborhood that doesn't want it, she said Tuesday. Resident Jennie Rudderham also advocated for more vetting with the project, and she's worried that the city will accept a developer who doesn't have a proven successful track record. The project is also lacking community input, Rudderham told council members. Various residents have expressed concerns after developers canceled a community meeting on Feb. 5 without residents knowledge, and another meeting has not yet been scheduled. '(Community input) hasn't happened here,' Rudderham said. '(Neighbors) are so frustrated, and there are lifelong residents who really deserved more of a voice in this process.' Gary Lee, a resident who lives near the proposed development, called the new proposal a 'sales pitch' and expressed concerns with who will work at the development if built. 'They said (this will create) 250 jobs,' Lee said. 'But if we accept that number, those 250 jobs are going to be commuters, not residents in the city of Gary.' At a previous Gary council meeting, multiple members said they wanted to support the project and needed more information. Councilwoman Mary Brown, D-3rd, and Councilman Kenneth Whisenton, D-at large, said the proposed development would help create more tax revenue within the city. 'I think it is (the responsibility) of the council to find or support those kinds of businesses that will bring revenue into the city,' Brown said. 'We talked about not being able to pay departments enough … We can't pay them if we don't get tax revenues.' Councilman Dwight Williams, D-6th, previously said the city needs more businesses to ensure youth will stay in the city, allowing them more opportunities for jobs. The council is expected to vote on the proposal at its next meeting, 6 p.m. Tuesday.
