The Gary Common Council gave its approval Tuesday to amending the terms of a previously-passed loan meant to raise money for municipal government to ensure that the city’s general and parks/recreation funds have sufficient funds for 2018.
Council members voted 8-1, with councilwoman LaVetta Sparks-Wade, D-6th, being the lone opposition vote, to alter the terms of a tax anticipation warrant that previously was used by the city to raise $17.5 million. The amended version adds $8 million that will be loaned to the city by the Hammond Bond Bank.
Also, the loans were originally to be repaid by Dec. 31, but the change will extend the repayment deadline to Jan. 15, 2019.
Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said that providing the extra two weeks for repayment ensures that the city won’t have to obtain a “bridge loan” that would ensure the city has money to cover the process.
“A bridge loan can be a costly process,” she said.
The short-term loans are meant to provide money to meet municipal payroll throughout the spring and summer, along with expenses for the city’s Parks and Recreation department. In the summer and toward the end of 2018, Gary will receive its property tax collections, which will be used to repay the loans.
Sparks-Wade was critical of such actions, saying she believes it is short-sighted to constantly have the city taking out such loans just to meet routine expenses.
But Council President Ronald Brewer said that such loans are needed for Gary government to maintain itself, on account of the declining city population that results in less revenue coming from property tax revenues.
“There are fewer numbers of people who are even paying property taxes,” he said. “We must become aware that our city is not what it used to be.”
In other matters, Freeman-Wilson acknowledged the Delta Sigma Theta sorority of which she is a member. Tuesday was the council’s annual Delta Day, and the sorority’s Gary Alumnae chapter attended the meeting held at the Tolleston Pavilion. The council met there because of repairs being done at City Hall.
Gregory Tejeda is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.