Bob Kasarda, Times of Northwest Indiana
bob.kasarda@nwi.com
VALPARAISO | Officials with Porter hospital are scheduled to appear before the Porter County Council on Monday to ask for a tax abatement for the new hospital they intend to build at the northwest corner of Ind. 49 and U.S. 6.
In a prepared statement, Porter hospital officials said they have filed an application seeking a 10-year property tax abatement for the 225-bed replacement hospital.
According to the statement, the requested tax abatement would expedite the hospital in moving forward with construction plans.
Hospital officials estimate the project will create about 600 construction jobs over an 18- to 24-month period while the hospital is being built. The hospital also estimates about 126 new permanent jobs would be created by the end of the second year of operations in the new facility in addition to its current 1,500 full-time equivalent staff positions.
"We look forward to the County Council's review of this matter and are hopeful the council will agree that the economic benefits of this project, including new jobs, warrant the requested tax abatement," Jonathan Nalli, CEO of Porter Hospital, said in the statement.
A tax abatement is a tool used by local government to attract private investment and job creation by exempting all or a portion of the new or increased value of a project for a designated amount of time from the property tax roll.
Nalli told The Times last month the new hospital will be built within the next two years, despite the ailing economy and an ongoing legal challenge by nearby residents.
County Council President Bob Poparad said Friday he is happy to hear the project is moving forward, but will not make a decision on the abatement request until he hears Monday's presentation.
When the county sold Porter hospital to Tennessee-based Community Health Systems in May 2007, the firm agreed as part of the deal to dedicate more than $200 million to build a new hospital with at least 225 beds and private rooms within four years.
The project was slowed by a legal challenge posed by nearby property owners, who argue the county granted a rezoning for the 105-acre site in question in violation of the county's unified development ordinance that prohibits institutions from being built alongside residential areas.
A judge dismissed the legal challenge in April on grounds the Liberty Landowners Association Inc. lacks standing to sue because the group owns no real estate near the site and would not suffer if a hospital is built there.
The landowners are appealing on the grounds the association has public standing because of the public interest involved.