GREENSBURG – The Decatur County Commissioners recently approved the Economic Development Income Tax Capital Improvement Plan.
Commissioner Rick Nobbe said EDIT money received from the county is collected so the county can help support various projects throughout Decatur County.
The Decatur County Highway Department will receive $100,000 of the EDIT funds for equipment.
Courthouse renovations will benefit from $325,000, and the Greensburg/Decatur County Economic Development Corp. will receive $60,000.
“We created some years ago, a Build Decatur County Fund,” Nobbe said. “We established that so that when we had small projects we could borrow from that fund and save some interest.”
That fund has been earmarked for $150,000, and $150,000 will go to the county’s Rainy Day Fund.
“That adds up to $795,000,” Nobbe said. “The total collected will be $924,609, which means that we are saving money.”
EDC Director Bryan Robbins said the money his organization receives from EDIT is used to pay salaries and for other EDC expenses.
“More importantly, that money goes toward making Decatur County more attractive to new businesses and industry,” Robbins said and used the business enterprise park between Honda and I-74 as an example. “The EDC has that property basically shovel ready.”
Robbins also said Decatur County is part of the I-74 Corridor Project which connects Champaign, Illinois, with Indianapolis, and Indianapolis with Cincinnati, Ohio. The project involves enrichment and development rural areas utilizing the heavy traffic stream created by business and public use of I-74.
“We use those funds for promotion, developing websites and enhancing online presence, to projects like the rebranding project for Decatur County,” Robbins said. “Essentially, we use it to market our community. Anything that makes Decatur County look more attractive to possible businesses and helps retain the businesses that are already established here.”
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