Fort Wayne City Council members continued unabated on their quest to remove property tax breaks from companies that did not live up to job or investment promises.
What that vote means, however, has yet to be figured out.
“We’re in uncharted territory here,” said the city’s Elissa McGauley, who shepherds the tax phase-ins through the approval process.
Last week, the council did something it had never done before and removed 11 projects from a list of those due to receive property tax breaks. The 10 companies – they can have more than one project – had failed to either make the investments in buildings and equipment they had said they would or failed to hire as many employees as they said. In return for the promises, they’ve been enjoying having their higher tax bills for the new building or equipment phased in over time, rather than hitting all at once.
Tuesday, in the council’s regular session, it finalized that vote without discussion.
McGauley said the council’s action takes the projects only off the list of this year’s tax breaks, meaning they could come back into compliance and return to the phase-in schedule, which gradually raises their property tax to the full amount over a period of up to 10 years.
Each year, the council is required to approve the list of tax breaks, and each year it does so despite a handful of firms that haven’t done what they said. But last week the council said no and removed 10 firms and their 11 projects from the list of approvals.
State law appears to require the city send written notice of the denial and to schedule a hearing on the matter within 30 days of that notice. But it also appears to require the decision to have been made weeks ago – by June 30. The council would make a final decision at the hearing; the company could appeal that decision in court.
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