Friday, June 29, 2012

Amsted Rail Granted Exemption for Investment in Hammond

From the Northwest Indiana Times:

Amsted Rail will receive a property tax break on a $7.7 million renovation the company is making to its Hohman Avenue facility.

The Hammond City Council approved a 10-year tax abatement this week that is projected to save the company more than $500,000 in property taxes in that span.

Amsted Rail, which has been in Hammond for more than 110 years, had faced pressure to move closer to its customer base in the south. The tax break was a way of keeping the company in Hammond.

“You have to have loyalty,” Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr. said. “The business has been in the city for over 100 years. We're competing with Louisiana and Mexico, and as a mayor, I'm sick of seeing jobs leave the area.”

The company will make the investment during a two-year period, with the most of the money going to adding new equipment at the site. The renovations are expected to create 21 new full-time jobs at the plant.

Beth Downes Jacobson, Hammond director of economic development, said as part of the project, the company will make facade improvements to the Hohman Avenue side of its property.
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Even with the abatement, the company will pay an estimated $537,740 in additional taxes on the renovations during the 10-year period and taxes on all its existing property.
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http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/hammond/hammond-gives-amsted-rail-tax-break-for-renovating-facility-staying/article_a36f1d76-9a48-5b1c-a05e-9c33f963f446.html