Indianapolis housing gaps addressed by lawmakers

Two pieces of legislation being considered at the Statehouse this session aim to fill gaps in Indianapolis’s affordable housing options. One bill would allow Marion County to set up new tax increment financing, or TIF districts, especially for housing.

Rep. Justin Moed (D-Indianapolis) authored the bill, which passed a committee this week.

He said most approved TIF districts in Indianapolis are for commercial development.

“This housing TIF, instead of capturing the future development of a business property, captures the future development and tax base of residential homes,” Moed said.

The city has used this type of TIF in the past.  The new bill opens it up to more areas.

Another new measure would clarify Indiana’s statute on receivership when it comes to commercial properties owned by nonprofits.  Indianapolis has had difficulties holding bad-acting, out-of-state landlords accountable for property neglect. 

Last year, JPC Affordable Housing refused to pay utilities – threatening shutoffs for tenants. Moed said the group is a shell company that hid behind nonprofit status.

“So they were certainly not living up to the spirit of a nonprofit that was supposed to be doing good for the community; they were certainly harming those that they serve,” he said.

The amendment was incorporated into a larger bill concerning nonprofits and gives the state Attorney General more power to intervene if nonprofits are bad-acting.

Contact WFYI city government and policy reporter Jill Sheridan at jsheridan@wfyi.org. Follow on Twitter: @JillASheridan.