The St. Joseph County Council hasn’t yet voted on whether to create a tax incremental financing district around the Granger Microsoft site. But county commissioners will be asked to start moving in that direction next week.
County economic development director Bill Schalliol on Tuesday will ask commissioners to approve a second agreement to run Mishawaka water and sewer to the site. In March the county, city and Microsoft signed a first agreement for Microsoft to pay $12.6 million for pre-development and design services.
Now this second agreement calls for Microsoft to pay another $55 million to build those utilities, for a total spend of $66 million. They’d also pay $2 million for road improvements near the site. The county would manage the water and sewer line construction and turn the infrastructure over to the city once it's built.
Whether to create the TIF district has been controversial as the Nov. 3 elections approach. It had been set for a vote Sept. 22 but Schalliol asked that it be tabled indefinitely.
Some county council members and candidates say Granger residents don’t want a TIF because that would lead to too much industrial and commercial development in Granger.
Aside from the $65 million Microsoft would spend to get water and sewer to its site, Schalliol says more water and sewer infrastructure will be needed to serve further industrial, commercial and residential development in the area.
If the county council doesn't approve a TIF, the agreement requires the three parties to find another way to pay for that additional infrastructure.
