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Ask The Mayor: Bennett Talks Sewer Rate Increase

Mayor Duke Bennett

City budget proposals, stormwater fee vote, roadwork grants and Hulman Center renovations.

On this week's installment of Ask The Mayor, Mayor Duke Bennett addresses these issues and more. Listen to the full conversation with Indiana Newsdesk anchor Joe Hren by clicking on the play button above, or read some of the questions and answers below.

This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.

Hren: Last Thursday night the stormwater fee ordinance did not pass. This all came about due to city work that needs to be done on flood control, the Clean Water Act, but at great cost. Are you back to square one?

Bennett: Well, we're looking at a sewer rate increase. The council just got some push back from a few businesses and a few churches. We felt like it was a more progressive way to do this because it would take the burden off the people who own homes in the city. Right now it's on the backs of the community are paying for the big businesses and churches who are paying very little for the amount of storm water they contribute. Now we're looking at a sewer rate increase because we have no choice. We have to have new revenue. No question about that.

Hren: What does the council want, or how do you move forward to get this additional funding?

Bennett: I don't know. It would be nice if they would come forward with it. I hear some push back on the pilot fee we take out on the wastewater treatment plant, once again, everyone else is doing it across the state. Why is it bad in Terre Haute? It's just ridiculous. So maybe it's a give or take. If we reduce that a little bit, I'm hopeful we'll be able to come up with some sort of compromise. In order to cut $5 million out of the budget, I'd have to lay off a tremendous amount of police and firemen. There's no other option available and I'm not going down that road.

If we get the rate increase passed, we will get $5 million and we will have a surplus in our general fund this year that will go against the deficit. Next year will be the same thing - we will have a surplus, go against the deficit. Our financial problems are addressed. So why they're hesitant to do that? Some of it's politics, some of them want me to fail - they don't want the budget to be fixed - others are just concerned about raising rates. We did the trash fee. Communities all across the state are facing the same challenges, and they are doing the hard thing and getting it done.

Hren: Terre Haute and Vigo County did not apply for a matching grant state road money allotment. Why was that?

Bennett: We couldn't because we didn't have our roadway management plan completed. And we've been working on it, but it's pretty significant and in order to apply for those funds you had to had that completed, and we came up a little short on that. But it's because it's a big plan that had to be created. Every street has to be identified and ranked and it's just a pavement management process that the state requires to get funding. So we're getting that done now, and we'll be ready to go to the next round. And I'm sure we'll get funding.

Hren: I see a new design for the Hulman Center that will now be combined as a convention center for this area. Of course this is on the Indiana State University campus, but how will this partnership work with the city to make this a multipurpose arena?

Bennett: It's the city, the county, ISU and the Convention and Tourism Bureau. But the CIB we created will operate this facility. ISU will rent it off the group. They'll maintain ownership at a dollar a year lease or something like that to us where we will operate it. It will be a transformational project not only for downtown, but for Vigo County and west central Indiana. We don't have convention space. We turn away conventions all the time.

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