New Albany officials say Daisy Lane project is affordable

By ERIC SCOTT CAMPBELL
Eric.Campbell@newsandtribune.com

— Daisy Lane will cost more to fix than previously thought, and though New Albany’s financial consultants predict there will be enough redevelopment money to keep construction on schedule, the increase will probably push back a State Street upgrade between Green Valley Road and downtown.
After engineers from Jacobi, Toombs and Lanz told the city last month that Daisy Lane’s estimated cost had risen from $3.2 million to almost $4.2 million, Crowe Chizek accountants crunched numbers to see if the project would have to be slowed or curtailed.

With $1.5 million to $1.7 million in its coffers today and an annual income to support a $2.5 million bond, the State Street tax-increment financing district still stands to tie up nearly all its money in the Daisy Lane project, Redevelopment Director John Rosenbarger said after the Redevelopment Commission’s meeting Tuesday.

The TIF fund culls from taxes on new businesses in a specified area and usually is applied to road improvements there.

The city had hoped to start planning for State Street improvements within a year or two, Rosenbarger said, but given the new financial outlook, “I don’t think we’d be well served” to pursue that without federal assistance, which took years to materialize for the Mt. Tabor Road renovation.

Read more about the Daisy Lane project at the New Albany News - Tribune website.