(A) There is hereby created the Department of Redevelopment for the city which shall be entitled to exercise all the rights, powers, privileges, and immunities accorded to such Department by I.C. 36-7-14, herein referred to as “the Act,” except those rights, powers, privileges, and immunities which are limited as described in division (E) below.
(B) The Department of Redevelopment shall be under the control of five members to be known as the City Redevelopment Commission.
(1) There is hereby created a City Redevelopment Commission. Three of said Commissioners shall be appointed by the Mayor, and two shall be appointed by the Common Council of the city. The nominations made by the Common Council shall be transmitted to the Mayor in writing within five days after the final passage of this section. Each Redevelopment Commissioner shall serve for one year from the first day of January after his or her appointment and until his or her successor is appointed and has qualified except that the original Commissioners shall serve from the date of appointment until the first day of January in the second year after appointment. If a vacancy occurs, a successor shall be appointed in the same manner as the original Commissioner, and the successor shall serve for the remainder of the vacated term.
(2) Each Redevelopment Commissioner, before beginning his or her duties, shall take and subscribe an oath of office in the form prescribed by law to be endorsed on the certificate of his or her appointment which shall be promptly filed with the Clerk-Treasurer of the city.
(3) Each Redevelopment Commissioner, before beginning his or her duties, shall execute a bond payable to the state with surety to be approved by the Mayor of the city. The bond must be in a penal sum based on current state-approved amounts and/or as set by City Council from time to time and must be conditioned on the faithful performance of the duties of his or her office and the accounting for all monies and property that may come into his or her hands or under his or her control. Until the Redevelopment Department has an operational budget, the city shall pay the bond from the Tax Abatement Fund.
(C) Such Commissioners shall have the qualifications prescribed by the laws of the state as from time to time amended and shall qualify as therein provided and shall exercise and enjoy the rights and powers and assume the duties and obligations conferred and imposed by the Act, including but not limited to the following qualifications.
(1) A Redevelopment Commissioner must be at least 18 years of age and must be a resident of the city. If a Commissioner ceases to be qualified under this division (C)(1), he or she forfeits his or her office.
(2) No Redevelopment Commissioner of the city shall receive a salary, but such Redevelopment Commissioners are entitled to reimbursement for expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of their duties.
(3) A Redevelopment Commissioner may not have a pecuniary interest in any contract, employment, purchase, or sale made under the provisions of this section and the Act. However, any property required for redevelopment purposes in which a Commissioner has a pecuniary interest may be acquired only by gift or condemnation. A transaction made in violation of this division (C) is void.
(D) The Clerk-Treasurer of the city charged by law for the performance of duties in respect to the funds and accounts of the city shall perform the same duties with respect to the funds and accounts of the Department of Redevelopment except as otherwise provided for in the Act.
(E) Notwithstanding anything contained in this section or in the Act to the contrary, the Department of Redevelopment and the City Redevelopment Commission shall, before performing any of the following actions, obtain specific approval for any or all such actions from the Common Council of the city:
(1) Exercise its power of issuance of bonds under § 25.1 of the Act;
(2) Enter into a lease or leases under § 25.2 of the Act;
(3) Levy taxes under § 27 of the Act;
(4) Borrow money under § 27.5 of the Act;
(5) Levy a tax rate for specific purposes under § 28 of the Act;
(6) Exercise the power of eminent domain under § 20 and/or § 32.5 of the Act; or
(7) Establish an allocation area under § 39 of the Act.
(F) If any part of this section shall be adjudged to be invalid by a court of proper jurisdiction, it shall be conclusively presumed that the Common Council would have passed the remainder of this section without such invalid part.
(Ord. 1539, passed 10-20-2008)
Statutory reference:
Related provisions, see I.C. 36-7-14