July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
County to request loan details (12/04/07)
Jay County Commissioners
By By TRAVIS MINNEAR-
Commissioner Milo Miller Jr. said Monday he will speak with officials from Jay County Development Corporation today to try to make information for four taxpayer-funded loans available to the public.
Miller said he will talk with JCDC representatives during today's board meeting in an attempt to gain access to loan documents.
The information he seeks pertains to money loaned to Omnicity Inc., an Indianapolis-based wireless Internet provider that specializes in serving rural communities.
The company was loaned a total of $494,500 in county economic development income tax funds to bring service to Jay County.
The company is suffering financial hardship, and is behind on repayments by nine to 11 months on each loan, according to amortization schedules provided by the county auditor's office. Omnicity has repaid a total of $44,401, bringing the remaining principal balance to $450,099.
The Commercial Review also confirmed this week that Jay County Development Corporation has kept more than $30,000 in interest paid by Omnicity.
Jay County Auditor Freda Corwin said this morning that principal comes back to the county, but that any interest is retained by JCDC.
The Commercial Review has made several attempts over the last six weeks to acquire documents related to the Omnicity loan from JCDC, but has been denied each time.
Because the documents have not been made public, the source of the arrangement allowing JCDC to collect and keep the interest paid on the Omnicity loans is unclear.
Representatives from JCDC have said they wanted to review the documents with an attorney to determine if they are subject to public-access laws.
JCDC attorney John Coldren told The Commercial Review in order to make the records available to the public, Jay County officials should request copies for courthouse files.
Jack Ronald, editor and publisher of The Commercial Review, asked the commissioners Monday if they would do just that.
Before Ronald made his request Monday, Miller said he planned to discuss the issue with JCDC representatives.
Bill Bradley, executive director of JCDC, said in a telephone interview last week that he believes paperwork for taxpayer-funded EDIT loans may belong at the courthouse as public record. He added that he is working to reform procedures for loaning tax dollars in order to make the process more transparent, but also wants to protect financial information of companies that wish to do business with the county.
According to minutes from a commissioners meeting on Oct. 4, 2004, the loans were made between JCDC and Omnicity.
Bradley said last week he believes in the future it may be more appropriate to make EDIT loans between the county and business entities.
"To be brutally honest, a loan like this should be made between the county and the business in question," Bradley said.
Commissioners said last month that they neither saw nor signed any documents related to the four loans to Omnicity. On Monday, they reiterated their stance that it is JCDC's responsibility to draft and possess all EDIT loan documents. And, they added, it is not part of their standard operating procedures to view any information after they approve the terms of any deal.
"I think they (JCDC) manage them all," Commissioner Faron Parr said of EDIT loans.
Also last month, JCDC officials met with commissioners to discuss a course of action to take with Omnicity. At that time, commissioners passed a motion allowing six months to pass before taking action against Omnicity, as long as the company makes "token payments" to demonstrate will and ability to make repayments. A dollar figure was not attached to the decision.
From Nov. 5 - when commissioners passed their resolution - through this morning, the county has not received any payments from Omnicity, Corwin said.
Bradley was in a meeting this morning and unavailable for comment.
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Miller said he will talk with JCDC representatives during today's board meeting in an attempt to gain access to loan documents.
The information he seeks pertains to money loaned to Omnicity Inc., an Indianapolis-based wireless Internet provider that specializes in serving rural communities.
The company was loaned a total of $494,500 in county economic development income tax funds to bring service to Jay County.
The company is suffering financial hardship, and is behind on repayments by nine to 11 months on each loan, according to amortization schedules provided by the county auditor's office. Omnicity has repaid a total of $44,401, bringing the remaining principal balance to $450,099.
The Commercial Review also confirmed this week that Jay County Development Corporation has kept more than $30,000 in interest paid by Omnicity.
Jay County Auditor Freda Corwin said this morning that principal comes back to the county, but that any interest is retained by JCDC.
The Commercial Review has made several attempts over the last six weeks to acquire documents related to the Omnicity loan from JCDC, but has been denied each time.
Because the documents have not been made public, the source of the arrangement allowing JCDC to collect and keep the interest paid on the Omnicity loans is unclear.
Representatives from JCDC have said they wanted to review the documents with an attorney to determine if they are subject to public-access laws.
JCDC attorney John Coldren told The Commercial Review in order to make the records available to the public, Jay County officials should request copies for courthouse files.
Jack Ronald, editor and publisher of The Commercial Review, asked the commissioners Monday if they would do just that.
Before Ronald made his request Monday, Miller said he planned to discuss the issue with JCDC representatives.
Bill Bradley, executive director of JCDC, said in a telephone interview last week that he believes paperwork for taxpayer-funded EDIT loans may belong at the courthouse as public record. He added that he is working to reform procedures for loaning tax dollars in order to make the process more transparent, but also wants to protect financial information of companies that wish to do business with the county.
According to minutes from a commissioners meeting on Oct. 4, 2004, the loans were made between JCDC and Omnicity.
Bradley said last week he believes in the future it may be more appropriate to make EDIT loans between the county and business entities.
"To be brutally honest, a loan like this should be made between the county and the business in question," Bradley said.
Commissioners said last month that they neither saw nor signed any documents related to the four loans to Omnicity. On Monday, they reiterated their stance that it is JCDC's responsibility to draft and possess all EDIT loan documents. And, they added, it is not part of their standard operating procedures to view any information after they approve the terms of any deal.
"I think they (JCDC) manage them all," Commissioner Faron Parr said of EDIT loans.
Also last month, JCDC officials met with commissioners to discuss a course of action to take with Omnicity. At that time, commissioners passed a motion allowing six months to pass before taking action against Omnicity, as long as the company makes "token payments" to demonstrate will and ability to make repayments. A dollar figure was not attached to the decision.
From Nov. 5 - when commissioners passed their resolution - through this morning, the county has not received any payments from Omnicity, Corwin said.
Bradley was in a meeting this morning and unavailable for comment.
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