TH Mayor gives state of the city

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - It was a packed house at the Vigo County Library Wednesday. People were listening to Mayor Duke Bennett's State of the City address.

Bennett hit on plenty of subjects including the city's economic standing. He said reports of a deficit may be misleading and that the city is not in financial trouble.
   
The mayor also touted the city's economic development from 2012.
     
The arrival of Nantworks and the expansion Thyssen Krupp Presta were listed as the big economic stories of the year.  He said they, with other businesses have brought in almost $200 million of investment, and more than 500 jobs.
     
On the crime front, the numbers fluctuate. Violent crimes were up by 11 percent with 17 more cases total, but property crimes were the lowest the city has seen in 20 years.  
     
Looking ahead, the mayor did mention his concerns about property assessments. Vigo County went down seven percent, which could mean the city will lose money. Of course that's a story that's still unfolding, but all in all the mayor is optimistic.

"Things are really going well here. I think that's the overall theme. Yes we're still having some issues from the property tax cap perspective, and our revenues and you're going to continue to hear about that in the future, but we can't let that cloud up the fact that there's a lot of positive things happening," Bennett said.