Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott Jr.

"Obviously, the Sportsplex is doing fantastic," Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. told council members. "Our volleyball, basketball, soccer programs are exploding. Over half of all the kids in those programs are Hammond residents."

Hammond police are willing to help U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with specific targets, but won't go around looking for people to round up, Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. told the city council Monday.

"I think generations will laugh at this body, if we say this is a bad idea," Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. told council members. "Generations of Hammond residents will laugh at us."

Hammond Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. believes his city is a good place for data center development, but admitted there are still some drawbacks and unanswered questions.

"We expect to see hundreds of people use this every single day," Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. said at Friday's ribbon cutting. "We expect the concession stand/snack bar that used to do a hundred bucks [in business] a night to do thousands of dollars a night."

"The neighborhood's great," said Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. "The neighbors who own their homes and a lot of people want to stay here, and there's not a lot of upward mobility for homes or even downward mobility for homes. But this gives us new options."

"This is a signature real estate development tool we use in our city," Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. told the city council last week. "It's been successful. Thousands of kids have graduated from colleges all across our state under this program."

"Even though this is a challenging time, even though we're negotiating big contracts, I'm encouraged because it seems like our property taxes are picking up, our assessed value's picking up, and that's a healthy thing for our economy," Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. told council members.

Starting in 2026, residents will have to pay an annual tax of $25 per passenger vehicle and $40 per larger vehicle, under an ordinance adopted Tuesday by the city council.

"And that increment we get over there, we could use to beautify this area right next to City Hall, this area to the south of us right next to City Hall, so this is vital," Mayor Tom McDermott Jr. told the city council last week.