By DERRICK GINGERY, Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly
A new proposal being formulated to build a $134 million ethanol plant in Wells County would lower taxpayers’ financial exposure if the venture went bust.
Instead of property taxes backing $58 million in bonds, the new plan would rely on private investors shouldering more of the risk and limiting taxpayers’ involvement.
“We believe we may be close to an arrangement that may work,” said David Dale, president of Indiana Bio-Energy, the firm proposing the ethanol plant. “We’re hopeful that it would happen by the time of the county council meeting Dec. 6. It’s not carved in stone yet, but it’s a date to shoot for.”
Indiana Bio-Energy still wants the county to guarantee some bond payments.
The plan would use a tax increment financing (TIF) district, directing its projected earnings toward supporting the bonds in case of default. It also would pledge a portion of its County Economic Development Income Tax (CEDIT) revenue, which comes from the state to create jobs and attract new businesses.
In what would be the county’s largest-ever industrial project, the ethanol plant would produce 100 million gallons of ethanol a year.
After taxpayers showed disdain about putting a large amount of public funds at risk for the project, the company began looking at alternate ways to fund the project.
“They understand it’s dead on arrival if that’s the way it comes in,” Wells County Council President Pete Cole said of the initial proposal.
Under the new plan, which is still being developed, the county would allocate a portion of its CEDIT funding and some TIF funds to support the project, Dale said. In case of default, the county would have to pay a portion of the debt service on the bonds.
The bonds’ backing no longer would be entirely with property taxes.
“The proposal that the team is working on would be one in which the amount would be substantially reduced,” he said.
Dale declined to discuss how much of the project the county would be responsible for under the new plan.
Local investors so far have committed $1.32 million.
The county would not have to make any debt service payments unless Indiana Bio-Energy defaulted. Under the new proposal, the county’s direct property tax receipts would not pay any outstanding debt in the worst-case scenario. It instead would be CEDIT or TIF revenue or both.
But TIF funds are property tax money. And CEDIT revenue is part of the state income taxes Wells County residents pay. It is part of the county’s annual addition to residents’ state income taxes.
A tax increment financing district freezes the existing property value for several years. As its value increases, the additional property tax revenue is placed in a special account that can be used for economic development purposes. It is also possible to borrow money based on the anticipated property value increase within the TIF.
Wells and other Indiana counties also are empowered to charge CEDIT as part of state income taxes residents pay. The funds are distributed to the counties each year.
Wells County has had the tax for two years. It received about $862,000 this year in CEDIT revenue. About 44 percent of that distribution is used to offset the county’s loss in revenue from the abolished state inventory tax. The remaining amount can be used for most economic development purposes.
State funds are being used to help pay for an ethanol plant in Lima, Ohio, but local officials said they are not aware of any examples of local financing for an ethanol plant.
Fagen Inc., an ethanol plant builder based in Granite Falls, Minn., has sent a letter of agreement to build a plant in Wells County if the financing is in order. But there are at least 57 ethanol plants on the company’s roster that have not broken ground, and Indiana Bio-Energy officials are worried the company could delay the Wells County project if they don’t see any progress soon.
Cole was not optimistic the proposal would be ready in time for the county council’s meeting this week, the last one scheduled this year.
“It’s going to change the financials for the outfit because the interest rates will change,” Cole said. “I don’t know that we’re that close yet. We’re not anywhere near to having an acceptable proposal to anybody.”
Cole also said CEDIT funds, according to Indiana law, are controlled by the county commissioners, who haven’t voiced any opinion on the plant yet.
“I don’t feel comfortable agreeing we’re going to pledge this stuff when I don’t control the money,” he said.
©Copyright 2024 KPC Media Group, Inc.