From the Northwest Indiana Times:
As our region continues emerging from the throes of a stormy nationwide economic climate, our communities must do all they can to hold on to the business and industry they have and cultivate it as best they can.
Hammond has an opportunity to do just that Monday as City Council members take up a request for tax breaks from longtime city-based company Amsted Rail. Council members shouldn't think twice about approving this fair request from a company that has been in the city more than a century and plans to make a $7.7 million local investment in renovating its existing facility at 4831 Hohman Ave.
Amsted Rail officials are seeking the tax break on the cost of the planned renovations, pledging to stay in the city if they receive a 10-year tax abatement on the investment. Right now, the only question Hammond officials should be asking themselves is whether they want to continue seeing Amsted — which makes springs for rail cars — operating in Hammond or elsewhere in the country.
Amsted officials could just as easily move the existing Hammond facility down south to be nearer their other operations. But if Hammond city officials play ball on the tax breaks, the company claims renovations of its facility would lead to 21 new jobs in Hammond. In this economy, each of those jobs is worth its weight in gold.
The City Council should be lauded for having already approved a resolution designating the area for economic revitalization, thus clearing the way for the tax abatement.
City Councilman Al Salinas, D-2nd, whose district contains the Amsted Rail facility, said he supports the abatement because of the jobs the renovations are expected to generate. This is a clear-cut issue, and the rest of the council should support Salinas in this matter. If the abatement is approved, the company has agreed it will still pay taxes on all its existing property. If the company leaves, the city will get nothing. The path to decision making doesn't get any clearer than that.
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/opinion/editorial/editorial-amsted-rail-deserves-requested-tax-breaks-to-keep-create/article_686ec7dc-58a0-57bb-8d9c-3e92e76ce226.html
