Next week, Greenfield City Council will vote on whether to grant a 15-year tax abatement on personal property for West Pharmaceutical Services, who is set to occupy the former BWI Group building at 989 Opportunity Parkway.
The abatement schedule, as outlined in a resolution proposing the abatement, would have 100% of the assessed value in personal property abated for all 15 years of the abatement. If approved by the council, this would be the first time in recent memory any unit of government in Hancock County has approved a tax abatement for a period of more than 10 years.
Tax abatements are tax exemptions municipal and county governments can use to attract new industry into their area. This is done by exempting from the property tax roll all or a portion of the new assessed value resulting from investment.
Businesses usually apply for abatements between one and 10 years, but Indiana law permits abatements for personal property — the equipment installed in a building to fulfill economic activity — to run up to 20 years.
According to Hancock County Auditor’s Office, for 2025, there were 23 active tax abatements for personal property, and all of those are 10-year abatements. Abatements for longer than 10 years are considered uncommon, as the condition to allow longer abatements only came into law in 2015.
Mitchell Kirk, communications director for Hancock Economic Development Council, said the abatement request is not a typical one. He said the company will occupy a building whose real property tax abatement was approved several years ago. Since so much time has passed, that real property abatement is into its phase-down.
Because of this, Kirk said, West would not receive the same benefit that a new project would get at Year 1.
“Officials chose to balance the overall incentive structure through personal property to ensure the project remains financially viable while still delivering long-term benefits to Greenfield,” he said. “Even with this adjustment, the company will still pay increasing real property taxes over time, create jobs, invest significantly in equipment and contribute to the local economy. When abatements expire, the city benefits from a substantially larger tax base than it had before the project.”
In December, the city council approved waiving the noncompliance of IndyCar Property, the owners of 989 Opportunity Parkway, for the tax year 2025. IndyCar Property failed to provide a Compliance With Statement Of Benefits Real Estate Improvements form to the council by the May 15 deadline in 2025.
The statement of benefits West filed with the city states that the equipment the company looks to put into the building would be “clean rooms, manufacturing equipment, warehousing equipment and IT equipment.”
According to the form, out of the $48 million West plans to invest into the building by 2028, $38 million would be manufacturing equipment, $2 million would be logistic distribution equipment and the remaining $8 million would be for IT equipment.
Greenfield was in competition with Columbus, Ohio, for the location of West’s next Midwestern location, Mayor Guy Titus said. He went on to explain West requested the terms of the abatement, and that he decided to allow West to proceed with its terms, saying there were more positives than negatives.
“There’s only so much tax we’re going to get off of personal property anyway,” Titus said. “I talked to my financial guy, and he says, ‘It’s not going to affect us that much, but it’s going to help bring up to 300 jobs to our community.’”
“Good-paying jobs are an investment here in Greenfield. I had a meeting with them this week. I think they’re going to be good for the community. They want to get involved with our schools and the whole nine yards.”
Under a “Project Crossroads” code name, Greenfield City Council approved a letter of commitment affirming the body’s support for the project at a meeting last November. In the letter, Titus states the company could realize tax savings of around $5.5 million if the tax abatement were approved.
Greenfield’s financial consultant, Buzz Krohn, said it’s not uncommon for cities and towns to give out “super abatements,” those between an 11- and 20-year period, but this abatement request by West would not be the rule of thumb going forward. He said the reason a 15-year abatement was even considered was because West is filling up a vacant building with an abatement schedule in process — 989 Opportunity Parkway has been vacant since BWI Group closed its operations in late 2023.
“The primary thing is, instead of having an empty building sitting there for 10 years, doing nothing, we’re sort of not missing a beat by being able to put somebody in there right away,” Krohn said. “We’re adding jobs and other things to the tax base and the overall financial health of the city.”
Titus echoed Kirk and Krohn’s statements about the abatement request being unique, with Titus adding there would be only six years left on the abatement of the building proper.
“They’re going to invest $40 million in materials to fill this plant. So we wanted to be able to help them offset some of their costs, and this will help them,” he said. “They’re putting a lot of their own money into this. So we wanted to be able to help them offset some of their costs. It is unusual to give them that many years. But, you know, there’s only so much we can get tax off of that anyway.”
Work has already begun to move West into its new warehouse, with Titus saying the company expects to open and begin production in March.
The matter will be considered during a public hearing at Wednesday’s council meeting — this means comments from residents will be heard before the council votes on the waiver. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the council chambers at Greenfield’s city hall, Keith McClarnon Government Center, 10 S. State St. Video of the meeting will be livestreamed and also be viewable afterward on the city website, greenfieldin.gov.