Jeremy Mullins, commercial manager for Louis Dreyfus Co., answers questions Thursday from members of the Kosciusko County Council. Photo by David Slone, Times-Union.

By David Slone
Times-Union

KOSCIUSKO COUNTY — It took three motions, but the Kosciusko County Council on Thursday, March 14, approved real property and personal property tax abatements for Louis Dreyfus Co. for five and three years, respectively.

The company, which has a plant in Claypool, had sought 10 years for the real property and five for the personal.

The public hearing for the tax abatements had been tabled for two prior meetings for further discussion between attorney Steve Snyder, representing LDC, and the county’s abatement committee regarding the waiver the company also requested for the tax abatements.

Snyder reminded the council Thursday that LDC was looking to put improvements into the Claypool facility for $59,867,000. Of that, $27,109,000 is for real estate improvements and $32,758,000 is for personal property improvements.

“We’re dealing with a significant mill storage expansion. From a personal property standpoint, we’re looking at liquid infrastructure to handle the oils business. We’re looking at an estimated completion of Dec. 31, 2024,” he stated.

Currently, Louis Dreyfus has an annual personal property tax bill of $550,000 to the county and a real estate tax bill of $181,748. Snyder said they will employ 168 employees, adding 13 with the expansion, with salaries totaling $959,000 for those 13. Kosciusko County residents make up 148 of the 168 employees.

There were no remonstrators during the public hearing against the tax abatements.

Greg Fitzloff, interim co-director for Kosciusko Economic Development Corporation, spoke in favor of the tax abatements. KEDCO had previously sent the council a letter of support for the abatement.

Dreyfus has been a strong world partner within the community over the last decades,” he said. “… I think any time you have the opportunity to encourage continued strong investment like you’ve seen out there, you certainly should be willing to encourage that.”

Council President Mike Long read a statement from the abatement committee. After reviewing all the financial information based on different terms for abatements — ranging from two years for each of the real and personal property abatements to 10 and five years; with the tax impact ranging from a high of $2,183,078 for a 10- and five-year abatement to a low impact of $778,995 for a two-year abatements — Long said the committee recommended tax abatements of two years for each of the requests. With the two-year tax abatements on the $59 million in improvements, Long said the total tax impact will be $778,995.26.

“The time frame recommended by the committee will coincide with the final bond payment due from Dreyfus in 2026, approximately February,” Long said. “With this recommendation, the committee points out that this abatement will not directly affect the revenue stream needed to operate our county. Louis Dreyfus exists on its own tax increment finance district. The expiration of this TIF district is the year 2036. The tax revenues generated in that district stay in that district. The revenues generated go to pay off the original bond, as well as infrastructure improvements needed for the district.”

Councilwoman Joni Truex recommended the council go with seven and five years instead, and she made a motion to that effect.

“I think Louis Dreyfus has been a great partner. I think they have brought a lot of money to this county, and I honestly feel that they have taken whatever abatements they have gotten and they have turned that around, and they keep growing and expanding and bringing more and more things here,” she said. “I think they should be rewarded for doing so.”

Councilwoman Kimberly Cates seconded the motion, but the motion died by a vote of 2-4, with Councilwoman Kathleen Groninger abstaining.

Councilman Dave Wolkins made a motion to approve the two years for each of the tax abatements, but that failed by the same vote with Groninger again abstaining.

Finally, Cates made a motion to approve five years for the personal property tax abatement and three for the real property tax abatement. That motion passed 5-1, with Councilman Tony Ciriello voting against it and Groninger abstaining for a third time.

After another lengthy discussion, the County Council voted 5-2 to start having pre-meeting meetings, with Zoom only allowed to listen in to the meetings, at 8:30 a.m. in the video conference room in the basement of the Justice Building. The meetings, which won’t be mandatory for the council members to attend, will be advertised to the public. No day was mentioned in the motion, but at one point it was suggested the pre-meeting meeting would take place a week before the regular meeting.

Groninger and Long brought the idea of the meetings up, with Groninger telling the council how they are done in Elkhart County. There were concerns from some council members that not only could they be a waste of time, but also all the information presented at the pre-meeting meetings would have to be presented again at the council’s regular meeting because not all the same people would attend both meetings.

Cates and Truex voted against the pre-meeting meetings, with everyone else voting in favor of them. The council plans to try the extra meetings for the remainder of 2024.

In other business, the council:

• Approved for the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office to apply for a Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention Program grant for up to $345,000 over two years through the Homeland Security Department. The commissioners approved the grant application Tuesday, which will be used for the Kosciusko County Recovery Program.

• Approved for the Kosciusko County Probation Department to apply for a Re-Entry Court grant for $170,000, as requested by Tammy Johnston, probation officer. The money will be used toward starting up the problem-solving Re-Entry Court. The commissioners gave their approval Tuesday.

• Approved a $25,000 distribution to LaunchPad from the American Rescue Plan Act, which already was approved by the county commissioners, council and ARPA committee, as presented by County Administrator Marsha McSherry.

• Approved two additional appropriations for $12,500 each for two probation officers out of the juvenile probation user fees, as requested by the probation department and Judge Karin McGrath.

• Approved an additional appropriation for $28,000 for the county clerk’s office for a HAVA Election Security Grant to produce election videos. It’s a reimburseable grant so the state will reimburse the clerk’s office for the funds expended.

• Heard a presentation from Bowen Center representatives on what the Bowen Center is doing and working on. The presentation was similar to the presentation given to the county commissioners on Tuesday.