Council voices concern about using MDF funds for county water project; wants bond bank review

Some council members raised reservations about diverting money from the city's MDF account to a county project that would primarily benefit West Harrison and the broader redevelopment area. One council member summarized the concern as a tradeoff between seeding a regional project and keeping reserves for local infrastructure needs.

A council member (identified in the transcript as speaker 7) said they had ‘‘studied’’ the matter and worried that the city might not receive much direct return if MDF funds are used countywide. "I'm just concerned about us taking money out of MDF to give someone where we don't get much return other than the interest and 1 lump payment a year," the council member said.

Other participants countered that the city is financially able to provide the loan and that job creation and economic development could provide indirect benefits. The council requested that the bond bank and county redevelopment commission provide full financials and that staff follow up with a presentation so the council can weigh local fiscal tradeoffs.