CIB Chairman Fred Glass will leave his chairmanship position at year's end to allow Mayor-elect Greg Ballard to choose his own successor to the CIB at the start of his administration according to WISH-TV's Jim Shella. He is also giving up his spot heading up the local Super Bowl bid committee. Glass has come under heavy fire for his role in negotiating a one-sided deal with Colts' owner Jim Irsay under a new lease agreement for the Lucas Oil Stadium being constructed at taxpayers' expense for nearly $700 million.
Glass is leaving behind some very important unfinished business. It seems Glass' negotiations with the Colts left the CIB with no means of paying for the ongoing maintenance/operating expenses of the new stadium, estimated to be at least $10 million annually. Glass and Mayor Peterson tried to convince Gov. Daniels and the legislature last year to change the law to allow tax revenues intended to be used to retire construction bond debts on the stadium to be diverted for operations and maintenance expenses but were turned down. Taking that course with the RCA Dome proved improvident for taxpayers. When the RCA Dome is torn down next year, about $75 million will remain unpaid for a facility which only cost $78 million to build 23 years ago.
15 comments:
I warned you in the beginning, the spend and tax democraps can not do simple mathematics, nor complex financial arrangements.
Indianapolis lost its AAA Bond Rating under the Peterson administration.
So much for sound financial planning!
If they are looking for someone with a financial planning background... or just a clue when it comes to how money works, they should look to Tim Maguire. He has a great background helping families pay off their debt and save money for retirement without having to spend much, if any, additional money.
If he only had a brain...
Besides, it's not like Fred has to actually pay for any of it...
Well his departure alone should save the city countless millions!
Guess he saw the handwriting on the wall.
I second the comment about Tim Maguire. I would love to see him work for the city in some capacity tied to keeping us fiscally lean.
Now...remind me again...why did we not want democrats ruining (sorry...I mean running) this city?
S&P just upgraded the city's bond rating to AAA because of the .65% income tax to fund the public safety pensions.
Fred Glass: Don't let the door hit you etc etc etc
How much undeveloped land is the CIB sitting on at this time?
I assume that the Market Square site is in the mix?
I hope Ballard keeps his campaign promise to lower taxes and to repeal the local option income tax........or will he tap dance around that????
It's time to have a fresh look at the CIB operations and it's financial solvency considering the generosity of the city to the Colts and the lackluster performance of the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association in filling hotel rooms and getting paying customers for our convention center.
"Fred Glass is giving up his position on the Superbowl Bid Committee."
Give us a break, the highly publicized bid attempt was more political grandstanding to justify the new Lucas Oil Stadium than substance.
Quite honestly the give aways used to attract this one time, non-repeat event would be better used for attracting a large reoccurring event with the organizing organizations headquarters.
P.S.
Has Lucas Oil moved its headquarters from California to Indianapolis yet?
P.S.
Has Lucas Oil moved its headquarters from California to Indianapolis yet?
9:04 PM EST
NO!..and they're not going to....
They should've let a real estate broker, banker or strong salesperson negotiate that lease. Those folks negotiate for a living every day.
Where is it written that lawyers are automatically good negotiators? Most I've met are not. It's not an inate skill taught in law school or learned on the job. Their fucntion is often different in business deals.
Fred needed to go. I thought his resignation announcement was very gracious. Why find fault now?
"It's time to have a fresh look at the CIB operations and it's financial solvency considering the generosity of the city to the Colts and the lackluster performance of the Indianapolis Convention & Visitors Association in filling hotel rooms and getting paying customers for our convention center."
Anon 8:54: You couldn't be more wrong about the performance of the ICVA, which continues to help attract business and leisure travelers in increasing numbers and is generally recognized as one of the leading convention and visitors bureaus in the country.
It is clear that few of the people commenting on this board have any actual knowledge about the stadium financing, the CIB and public finance generally.
First of all, the staduim financing was mostly put together by the state (read as mitch daniels). It was financed through state agencies and the CIB will not take control of it until after its completion. The original financing system proposed by Peterson accounted for maintenance and operation costs, but these were trimmed out in the state financing to make the financing plan politically viable.
Second of all, the county option income tax isn't going anywhere. It proceeds are going to put police on the streets and fund police and fire pensions. This is incredibly important b/c municipal governments all over the county are desparately trying to figure out how to fund these pensions. They are a huge liability for the fiscal health of our city and by funding them through this tax, Peterson assured that no future administration would have to account for their disasterous potential.
Lugar, Hudnut, Goldsmith and now Peterson have all greatly improved the quality of Indianapolis, and if you don't belive that you are simply lying to yourself.
Now i'll go, so you can all trash me and call me names.
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