Letter from Ron Walker, President of the Bloomington Economic Development Corp, in the Bloomington Herald-Times:
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Commonly referred to tax abatements, Monroe County grants them conditionally and on a case-by-case basis, based upon the employer’s ability to achieve specific goals, such as jobs, wages and investment, among other community benefit criteria. Property tax assistance does not cause a loss in revenue to Monroe County, and it has been effectively utilized by the county for many years. The county also protects both the employer’s interests and the community’s interests through a memorandum of agreement assigned to the abatement approval.
The greatest benefit of property tax assistance is that it keeps people employed and creates new jobs.
A look at the compliance reports reveals that property tax phase-ins helped Monroe County employers retain more than 3,200 jobs. This is particularly noteworthy given that it occurred during the Great Recession, when employers across the country laid off workers to remain viable and competitive.
Even more noteworthy is the fact that employers who have received a property tax phase-in have created more than 1,400 new jobs since their abatements were approved. That means over 1,400 people now have a job in Monroe County and hundreds of households and families now have a good income, medical insurance and retirement benefits. Alone, the new jobs have a combined payroll of over $97,000,000 annually, equating to an average wage of more than $20 an hour. This figure is well above the county’s average wage for private sector employment ($15.58 per hour in 2010).
So, in addition to helping keep food on the table for Monroe County families already working, Monroe County’s property tax assistance helped create more than 1,400 new job openings in the county and push Monroe County’s average wage paid by private sector employers up. When the private and public sectors work together in this way, we’re all better off.
http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/stories/2012/06/22/business.property-tax-gives-assist-to-businesses-county.sto?1340394024
