A well-received tax abatement request from one of the city’s oldest employers has quickly fallen apart in a matter of days.
A representative of CTS Corporation appeared before city council on July 7 to formally request tax breaks over a seven-year period in exchange for expansion of a new production line that would result in 14 jobs paying on average about $50,000 a year.
Reaction at the time was congratulatory as one city official called it one of the better requests the city has ever entertained.
But than two weeks later, city council’s outlook turned sour after officials learned the company was cutting 14 upper management jobs.
Council members were quick to take action after they learned the company had eliminated the positions from the Elkhart facility.
About ten of the positions are being eliminated while the other workers are being offered a chance to relocate to a facility in Illinois.
News of the job cuts came 11 days after council took the initial step in seeking tax abatement.
With the job cuts, paperwork submitted to the city is considered to be inaccurate and invalid, according to councilman David Henke.
Council had taken the first of three steps to approve the abatement request, but on Monday, July 21, reversed course amid concerns and used the rare move known as a “motion to reconsider.”
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