By MARY ANN LEWIS, Commercial Review

Members of the Jay County Council greeted a request for a tax abatement for a proposed ethanol plant with approval.

Officials from The Andersons Inc., who hope to build a large ethanol plant near the company’s grain terminal just east of Dunkirk, are asking for nearly $5 million in abatements — or phased-in taxes — on the plant.

Members of the council Wednesday agreed to send the request to the Jay County Tax Abatement Advisory Committee, which is expected to consider the request and issue a recommendation by early May.

An official from the company said Wednesday the project could be completed about a year after the start of construction, but that if work on another proposed plant were to begin, The Andersons would likely not proceed with the local plant.

The Andersons, a multi-faceted ag products company, will be seeking a tax abatement on $1,809,790 worth of manufacturing equipment and on $2,962,200 in real estate improvements for the project, which is expected to create approximately 25 full-time jobs with an annual payroll of more than $1 million.

Although total construction costs for the project are expected to be about $112.1 million, tax abatements can only be approved on the estimated assessed valuation of the construction and/or equipment, Jay County Auditor Freda Corwin explained earlier this week.

The maximum length of time for an abatement on real property is 10 years, while an abatement on machinery may be granted for five years.

The proposed plant would be located at 4678 South 1110 West — just east of The Andersons Inc. terminal.

Dawn Betancourt, general manager of the Dunkirk facility; Nick Conrad, assistant treasurer of The Andersons Inc.; and Rod Harris, business development director, addressed the council Wednesday night about how the operation would benefit the Dunkirk area and the entire Jay County community.

Betancourt told the council that The Andersons Inc. has been a community supporter for several years, donating to such projects as Arts Place, public libraries, the Jay County 4-H program, the Dunkirk Volunteer Fire Department, and many others.

“Your support has helped us build our business here,” Conrad said about the county’s help in making the business successful. “Your past support is what’s brought us here tonight.”

Betancourt explained when The Andersons Inc. acquired the grain operation in 1983, it was purchasing five million bushels of grain a year. That figure has grown to 21 million bushels, she said.

Explaining the company’s decision to undertake such a large project, Betancourt said, “We’re a risk management company. We’re very conservative by nature.”

Conrad explained that once the first shovel of dirt is turned, construction could be completed within one year, but he cautioned, if another operation from an outside company would begin construction before The Andersons Inc. plant begins, plans for their local operation would be put on hold and probably be moved to another county.

“There are currently six other competing projects within a 40 mile radius of Jay County,” he said.

“Good luck,” council president Marilyn Coleman told company representatives, as the council unanimously passed the request on to the abatement advisory committee.

In another tax abatement matter, the council learned that Penn Manufacturing, Inc., 355 S. Broadway St., Pennville, is in compliance with the terms of an abatement granted in 2004 of $40,000 for a lathe mill, surface grinder, cut off saw, and welder. The business is owned by Rodne Penrod.
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