Zionsville RDC authorizes president to approve TIF bond disbursements, approves Wild Air Phase 1 draw

ZIONSVILLE, Ind. — The Zionsville Design and Redevelopment Commission on Aug. 26 approved a procedural change allowing the commission’s president to approve routine tax-increment-financing (TIF) bond disbursement requests, provided the disbursement is accompanied by approval from the town’s chief legal counsel and the municipal adviser. At the same meeting the commission also approved Wild Air Phase 1 draw request No. 3.

The change was presented as an efficiency measure: staff and counsel drafted an amendment to enable the RDC president to execute disbursements after the usual public approval and required backup have been provided. Deputy Mayor (name not provided) told commissioners the amendment would streamline regularly occurring transactions while preserving oversight. He said the requests still must provide backup documentation and legal review. "There's nothing discretionary. It's gone through all the public approval processes prior and this is just really just a disbursement," he said.

Commissioners agreed to a reporting mechanism for transparency: staff committed to include any disbursement executed under the new approval process in the packet for the next RDC meeting so commissioners would see the action. "I think we could agree to at the following meeting if a disbursement occurs that we could put it in the packet for the next meeting," a staff member said.

The procedural resolution was moved and seconded and carried by voice vote. The commission then considered a specific draw request: Wild Air Phase 1 draw request No. 3, described by staff as a routine third draw. Commissioners asked about construction progress and roundabout/road closures tied to the Wild Air work; staff said the multifamily buildings were progressing quickly and that closures were related to roundabout construction. The Wild Air draw request was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote.

Why it matters: The TIF-authority change shifts routine administrative authority to the RDC president to speed payments that are contractually required under bond agreements while preserving legal and municipal-adviser review. The Wild Air draw approval indicates ongoing private construction activity in a TIF-financed project area.

What the resolution says and next steps

The approved amendment authorizes the RDC president to approve bond disbursement requests after staff has provided the usual documentation and after review by the town’s chief legal counsel and the municipal adviser. Staff agreed to include executed disbursements in the next meeting packet as an informational item. The Wild Air draw will be processed under the existing bond terms; staff said this draw would likely be one of the last processed under the prior manual-approval workflow because the amendment was adopted at the same meeting.

Ending: Both the procedural resolution and the Wild Air draw were approved by voice vote; staff will include executed disbursements in subsequent meeting packets for commission review.