Seven weeks after the creation of a county economic development commission, the Bartholomew County Council is considering providing tax abatements for a recently-expanded tax increment financial (TIF) district in German Township.
At the request of Greater Columbus Economic Development Corp. President Jason Hester, the council gave tentative approval Tuesday to designating a portion of German Township as an economic revitalization area. According to Indiana code, this is a prerequisite for local governments to begin offering tax abatements for multiple sites located in the same vicinity.
The proposed economic revitalization area would run on both sides of U.S. 31, with West Larea Avenue near Heritage Heights to the south, and County Road 900N, which runs parallel to Pleasant View Village, to the north. Hester describes this area as "basically the four sides of Exit 76" from Interstate 65.
Last April, Hester told the council that “we’ve had increased looks (from potential employers) like we’ve never seen. We had at least four different site visits last year — in the middle of a pandemic.”
The news that Hester provided this week is even more optimistic.
"I think we’ll have a couple of tax abatement requests coming before the county council in July," he said.
Since 1999, Bartholomew County has attempted to lure new businesses to this area of German Township, according to the county’s comprehensive plan. After a county redevelopment commission was formed in 2014, an area of property called Meadow Lawn Farms was designated as a tax increment financial (TIF) district in 2015.
Within this 231-acres of land, local property taxes that normally flow to schools, law enforcement and fire departments are frozen for up to 25 years. During that time, new property tax revenue generated from higher assessed values is used to fund such things as road and intersection improvements, rail spurs and crossings, utility upgrades, property acquisition and development, drainage improvements and workforce training.
While several potential manufacturing companies have examined the Meadow Lawn Farms site over several years, most ended up going elsewhere to take advantage of better financial incentives, county officials have said.
It wasn’t until the Meadow Lawn TIF district was expanded by nearly 3,000 additional acres in 2019 that potential employers began looking more seriously at the area, Hester said.
If the entire TIF district is fully developed, nearly 2,500 new jobs could be created over the next 20 years, Hester told the council.
Up until now, tax abatements have only been provided to companies like Georg Utz Inc. on a case-by-case basis, Hester said. By approving an economic revitalization area,"it simply puts the tool in the tool box" for future tax abatement requests to be considered without long delays, he said.
Although terms may vary, a typical tax abatement allows property taxes to be phased in gradually on new buildings and equipment over a ten-year period.
Tuesday’s initial approval was only the first step. The second will be a public hearing on the proposal preliminarily scheduled for June 29. A second and final vote to create the economic revitalization area might be held following that same evening, or later in July.
"And all that is before they even get to a conversation and resolution on whether or not to approve a particular tax abatement," he said.
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A public hearing on the creation of an economic revitalization area in German Township has tentatively been scheduled for Tuesday, June 29.
The hearing will begin at 6 p.m. in the new first floor county council chambers at the Bartholomew County Governmental Office building, located at the corner of Third and Franklin streets.
The council has not yet determined whether they will conduct the final vote regarding the proposal that evening, or postpone it until their July 13th meeting.
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