With the Valparaiso Redevelopment Commission receiving only about half of the grant money it requested, programs and finances will change from the budget plan presented earlier this month.
The Regional Development Authority has granted the city $6.8 million, said Stu Summers, commission executive director, instead of the requested $13 million.
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That means some bills will be paid in 2017 rather than this year, and the commission will no longer offer facade grants to businesses looking to improve their outside appearance, he said.
Summers will present a revised budget at the Jan. 12 commission meeting, and it is slated to go before the city council on Jan. 23.
The estimated budget Summers presented Dec. 8 split revenues this way: 49 percent to core projects, 28 percent to previous commitments and debt service, 15 percent to quality of life matters and 8 percent to finance and administration.
The focus of the Education Challenge Grant is changing to support only technology that will last three years or more and will be limited to Valparaiso schools instead of also including those in the city that are part of the East Porter County School Corporation. The program uses Tax Increment Financing district moneywhere schools normally don’t get a share of increased property taxes in a TIF district.
The redevelopment commission is backing off facade grants although the city will continue to offer them for the Historic Downtown neighborhood businesses. Instead, the commission will focus on enticing businesses with signs mounted on poles to switch to the preferred monument signs.
“We can’t use a stick, but we can use a carrot,” Summers said.
The $75,000 set aside will first go to Calumet Avenue businesses, and Summers foresees tough sledding initially as questions remain about signs with multiple tenants and other issues.
James D. Wolf Jr. is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.