The Allen County Commissioners are pleased with the Tax Court's recent ruling upholding the financing package for the $300 million jail.
The plan involves using the historic Allen County Courthouse as collateral in a sale/leaseback transaction for a construction bond. The Indiana Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) approved that funding plan, but the Allen County Residents Against the Jail disagreed saying the commissioners did not have legal authority to use county buildings in the manner laid out in the plan and filed suit in March to stop the plan from going forward.
Friday, the Indiana Tax Court upheld the DLGF's approval of the plan.
Less than 24 hours later, the Allen County Residents Against the Jail appealed that ruling which will delay the start of construction of the new jail further.
The commissioners' full statement in response to the Tax Court ruling and appeal is below.
“We were pleased to read the Indiana Tax Court opinion issued late Friday afternoon affirming Allen County’s financing method for the new county jail. While we respect the rights of our residents to use the court system to appeal, Allen County’s financing method has now been validated by the Indiana Department of Local Government Finance and the Indiana Tax Court. We are fully prepared to move forward with the project. Our finance and construction team have worked diligently during the appeal process to get Allen County in the best possible position to mitigate timeline and cost increases due to the delayed start. We will have more specific details on next steps in the coming week.”
A spokesperson for the commissioners said construction cannot begin as long as collateral for the bond is in litigation.
