Another scam? Public funding of private ventures.... lack accountability.
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MARION CANNOT EXPLAIN $2.5M YMCA LOAN: Concrete around the former YMCA in Marion is crumbling (Haeberle, WISH-TV). Windows are boarded up. A new electrical system remains shut off. Wires for new lights hang from the ceiling. Construction work that would have revamped the former YMCA into a hotel and retail shops stopped more than a year ago with little explanation. City officials also cannot explain why there are very few financial documents detailing how the money from a $2.5 million bond issuance was spent. Five years after the project began, there’s no clear indication when or if it will be finished. And the city of Marion has released the developer, Michael Y. An, from repaying any of the debt. According to the city’s development director, “there really never was an expectation for (An) to pay,†Lisa Dominisse wrote in an email to I-Team 8. Instead, two sources of taxpayer money – both Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and Community Redevelopment Enhancement Districts (CREED) – are being used to repay the debt.
This project represents a growing concern among elected leaders and citizens interviewed by I-Team 8. They’re worried that public money is too often used to help fund private projects through the use of TIF…In 2009, the city of Marion took out the $2.5 million TIF bond – essentially a tax-backed loan – for the purpose of revamping the YMCA. After the bonds were sold, city records obtained by I-Team 8 show the proceeds were given to California developer Michael Y. An. An’s company, Global Investment Consulting, was supposed to turn the YMCA into a hotel and retail shops with the understanding it would create 80 to 90 jobs and bring in an annual payroll of $1.2 million to $2 million, according to the original contract and bond agreement signed by Marion Mayor Wayne Seybold.
But the receipts detailing how that $2.5 million loan was spent are sparse. After I-Team 8 filed an open records request asking for all the financial records, the city provided the 200-page original bond agreement along with 16 pages of documents that supposedly account for the $2.5 million. But all of those records come back to An’s companies: Global Investment Consulting or World Enterprises Group. Before An could get money for the project, he was supposed to submit “distribution requests†in writing to First Farmers Bank and Trust, the trustee the city hired to manage the bonds. Five distribution requests were included in the reply to I-Team 8′s open records requests. One is for $481,000 for a “construction fee.†The others include expenses like $250,000 for an HVAC system, $95,000 for an elevator and $305,000 on plumbing. But none of the documents explains what vendor did that work, when it was done, or if it was completed.
It appears the Mayor's brother was working for the firm.... now that wouldn't happen in Hammond would it?
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An, was supposed to repay any debt when TIF revenue wasn’t sufficient, according to the original bond agreement. But two years later in 2011, all of that changed. City records show the city paid $871,210 in debt service on the original $2.5 million bond. In order to pay off the remaining $2.4 million, the city took out another $5.8 million loan backed by property taxes as part of a massive plan to refinance several bonds – including the YMCA project. That’s according to records provided by the city’s development director, Lisa Dominisse… I-Team 8 has also learned An owes more than $30,000 in back taxes on his other Marion properties. When asked what guarantees the city had from An that the project would be complete, the mayor said: “We have no guarantees.â€
Potash comes to mind.
I hear from a contractor the Potash project will start in June or July. Someone is selling a $100,000 six acre parcel @ the Potash location.