The district would only affect those living in Elkhorn Ridge, which is currently under development.
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Truesdale will have a public hearing before its regular July 12 board of aldermen meeting for members of the public to speak about the proposed new neighborhood improvement district in the new Elkhorn Ridge subdivision.
This will be the first neighborhood improvement district in Truesdale, according to City Clerk Elsa Smith-Fernandez.
“For us, it’s a big deal,” she said. “We don’t really take any decision like this lightly.”
The new district will help make the lots that will be up for sale more affordable to potential buyers, Smith-Fernandez said. And it should come without a cost to the city.
“From my understanding, what happens is the bonds will be paid back through special assessed taxes on those properties,” she said. “So when they’re purchased, it would become the responsibility of the property owner of each of those lots to pay that on their taxes. If for some reason those lots do not sell, it’s still the responsibility of the property owner, the developer, to pay those taxes.”
Only those residents living in the new subdivision would be affected by the neighborhood improvement district.
“It’s strictly that location in the Elkhorn Ridge subdivision,” Smith-Fernandez said.
Smith-Fernandez said the city encourages city residents to come to the public hearing, if only to get additional information and to ask questions.
Most of the discussion during the June 14 board of aldermen meeting revolved around the neighborhood improvement district and the next steps the city needed to take. Multiple lawyers spoke about the issue, providing information and instruction to the mayor and board of aldermen.
“There are professionals that have to be involved,” Smith-Fernandez said. “There’s a lot of legalities, a lot of moving parts that have to be covered and to make sure that we’re asking the right questions.”
About the author: Jason Koch is the editor of The Warren County Record, and covers local news and government for the newspaper. He has won multiple awards from both the Indiana and Illinois APME and from the Illinois Press Association. He can be reached at 636-456-6397 or at jason@warrencountyrecord.com
