Warsaw City Council approved five tax abatements for four applicants Monday night.

Whimet Inc. originally estimated adding 15 additional jobs, but has added 18 new employees and invested $746,000 in real property improvements, City Planner Jeremy Skinner said. This is their seventh year of their abatement on real and personal property and he recommended it be approved.

Little Crow Lofts LLC requested two abatements – a 10-year tax abatement on real property for the improvements that are being made to the property, and a three-year abatement for its vacant building deduction under the state’s vacant building deduction guidelines.

“Typically under tax abatements, you are approving them for new additions or new money, not old money or an existing building. But because this building had been vacant for more than two years, it was applicable to apply for that vacant building  (deduction) ... to get interest into that building. So for three years, they will have a tax abatement on the whole building,” Skinner explained.

This is the first year for the abatements for Little Crow and over $6.4 million will be spent on improving and converting the former manufacturing building into an apartment building.

“The applications you are approving now are for next year’s taxes, not this year’s taxes,” Skinner noted.

He recommended the council approve both of Little Crow’s abatements.

The tax abatements for Redwood IT LLC, 501 Argonne Road, are for real and personal property. They are still in the process of rehabbing the building on Argonne Road. It was granted a 10-year tax abatements for real and personal property in 2015. It is spending about $50,000 in IT equipment and $400,000 in building improvements. This is the second year for its tax abatement.

The last tax abatement was for Banner Medical Innovations Inc., 1295 Polk Drive.
Skinner said they were granted a tax abatement for personal property in 2015 and it was the first building to go into the city’s Tech Park. It’s hired 20 employees since opening in mid 2016 and has spent over $2.3 million on personal property, he said. Over five years, Skinner said Banner plans to hire over 70 employees.