Redkey ready for expansion

REDKEY — No objections were raised Tuesday evening at an informational meeting to consider annexation of the Bell Aquaculture fish processing facility and several residential properties to the town.
The meeting was held to provide information on the process to affected property owners, and about a dozen people were in attendance.
No formal action was taken, and Redkey town council president Jim Funkhouser said the next step would be preparation of an annexation ordinance to be discussed at the council’s next regular session on April 21.
That ordinance could then be prepared for adoption at the council’s  next meeting on May 19, town attorney Leslie Mathewson explained.
She said the annexation process, including public hearing requirements, could be completed by November.
At Tuesday’s meeting, Mathewson explained that officials from Bell Aquaculture had expressed interest in their property being annexed.
They have expressed “a strong desire to become a part of the town,” said Mathewson, an attorney with the Law Offices of John Brooke in Muncie.
She added that in order to make the annexation possible, several other pieces of property, located between the town limits and Bell’s property, would also have to be annexed. Those five property owners were invited to attend Tuesday night’s meeting, and some of them came or sent representatives.The adjacent property owners include John and James Rombeck, Jon Michael Luttman, Ray Donald Brunson, Rick and Terri Barker, and the Redkey Economic Development Corporation. The property affected is on the southwest side of Redkey, adjacent to or near Morgan Park.
Mathewson claimed Tuesday that property taxes for those properties being annexed will not increase because of the move, but officials from the Jay County Auditor’s office said this morning that is not the case.
After annexation the properties will be subject to the Redkey tax rate (currently 3.409 cents per $100 of assessed valuation) as opposed to the Richland Township rate (currently 2.0003 cents per $100 assessed valuation).
An estimate of the tax impact conducted this morning by the auditor’s office showed that taxes on a random property near Redkey assessed at $57,000 would increase to $460 per year from a current amount of $280.
Matthewson stated Tuesday that property tax caps implemented several years ago by the Indiana Legislature would prevent tax increases for the affected property owners, but the auditor’s office said that it is highly unlikely that property taxes will climb high enough in Redkey to trigger a “circuit breaker” clause that would cap, or freeze, taxes.
Several years ago Bell purchased the entire Redkey Industrial Park from the REDC, locating its fish processing facility at 9885 West Ind. 67. The annexation of the land should have probably taken place prior to that purchase, Funkhouser said.
“I think we want our community to grow, and it’s just natural to annex your industrial park,” Funkhouser pointed out Tuesday night.
In addition he added, “We plan on annexing more property in the future that will bring in more revenue to the town.”[[In-content Ad]]