Magnificent seven figures for City Council

Friday, July 15, 2016

Don't make promises you can't keep ... those have been words to live by for ages.

Apparently Greencastle industries have been heeding that advice. And the Greencastle City Council learned just how much this week.

Proof of compliance with promises made in securing tax abatements is an annual requirement of companies receiving such local benefits.

Frequently that produces piles of paperwork and multitudes of numbers to digest and enough dollar amounts to make an accountant's head spin.

Earlier this week, the City Council tackled seven of those statement-of-benefit forms and accompanying resolutions for compliance involving tax abatements previously granted for Ascena Retail Group, Chiyoda USA Corp., Crown Equipment Corp., Garmong Development Co., Heartland Automotive, IAC Greencastle and Phoenix Closures.

With a nod to Mayor Bill Dory, who held her job before he was elected to lead city government, Greencastle/Putnam County Economic Development Director Kristin Clary offered a "quick overview" of the cumulative impact of those numbers.

Collectively, tax abatement efforts involving those seven Greencastle companies has resulted in:

-- 2,633 jobs either newly created or retained.

-- $33.1 million in real estate investment.

-- $131.5 million investment in equipment covered by the abatements.

-- $107.5 million in total payroll related to the 2,633 jobs noted above.

-- $1.88 million generated for the taxing units of Putnam County through those 2,633 jobs.

Despite that good news, Clary said some of the companies continue having difficulty in filling all the positions they might have available.

"They would all take 25 good, quality employees right now and put them out on the floor," she said, indicating that sometimes the skill level required for the position doesn't match up with the available workforce.

With an unemployment rate of 4.6 or 4.7 percent, Putnam County is basically down to those who face some hindrance to working fulltime, Clary said. That could include prospective employees who know they wouldn't pass a drug screen or those who face obstacles like child care or transportation issues.

"We're having conversations with all of them right now," Clary said of the local industries, "to see what things we can do."

One thing that is under discussion is considering 16-year-olds for some factory positions that don't require running equipment. Another is the possible development of on-site child-care services.

The proposed community center might be able to help with the latter, Mayor Dory noted.

"The 'Y' (YMCA) is going to look at that for us," he said following a discussion with YMCA officials earlier in the week.

Councilman Dave Murray suggested that perhaps "corporate support for the Y could help" make such a child-care arrangement a reality.

Of course, creating room for child-care facilities at the proposed YMCA-run community center would likely necessitate altering the design of the facility, so that would have to be looked at.

Meanwhile, a legal ad soliciting requests for qualifications to design such a facility ran recently in the Banner Graphic with a deadline for responses listed as Aug. 5.

Clary also noted that "one of the things lacking in our community right now is housing."

She said only 30 buildable lots remain within the City of Greencastle for construction of affordable housing that might help add to the workforce.

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