Howard County will get Delphi taxes

ken.delabastide@kokomotribune.com

Howard County taxing units will be paid the personal and real-estate taxes that Delphi Corp. has owed since it filed for bankruptcy protection in 2005.

The court order issued Thursday by Judge Robert Drain spells out how the taxes owed to the county will be repaid, including the tax payment due this November.

Attorney Dave Powlen, with the Indianapolis law firm Barnes & Thornburg, explained Friday during a conference call that General Motors Co. is obtaining all the Delphi facilities in Kokomo and is assuming all the tax liabilities.

Powlen said the court order requires payment of the personal property taxes due to the county. Property assessed March 1, 2005, for $4,615,399 must be paid in full by March 1, 2011 with an interest rate to be set by the court.

The real estate taxes for 2005 in the amount of $1,881,860 will be paid over the next seven years, with an interest rate of 5 percent.

Those payments will allow local taxing units to repay loans secured from the Indiana Rainy Day Fund within the 10-year limit for the repayment.

Powlen said GM agreed to pay all administrative claims filed prior to July 15.

GM will be responsible for paying $3,769,193 in personal and real-estate taxes due in November and $7.6 million in taxes due during 2010.

"The county is getting every dollar of its taxes," Powlen said. "The payment will be delayed. But others are losing some or all of their claims."

The closing of the deal between GM and Delphi concerning the Kokomo facilities is expected to be completed by the end of September.

"It could have certainly been worse," Powlen said the outcome for Howard County. "It could have been a liquidation and further shut down of Delphi facilities. There could have been the move of some or all operations out of Kokomo."

Powlen said the court order is a successful outcome for Howard County.

Dick Miller, president of the Howard County Council, said Delphi locally has always been good to work with, and the county started the process early to file a claim with the courts.