RICHMOND — As construction continues on the Sugar Creek Packing facility, the company has indicated they will seek a combination of TIF and tax abatement incentives.
Wayne County Attorney Ron Cross told the Wayne County Redevelopment Commission Tuesday the company will likely seek Tax Increment Finance funding for approximately an $8 million bond the company will purchase as well as a traditional seven-year tax abatement for new equipment and partial abatement on real estate.
The company bought the former RCF Kitchens Indiana – better known as Really Cool Foods – facility and 50 acres in the Indiana Gateway Industrial Park north of Cambridge City out of the bankruptcy court in 2012 for $13 million. The company is currently in the process of construction a 170,000-square foot expansion to the 70,000 square foot facility left by Really Cool Foods, making the facility the largest in the Sugar Creek system.
The company’s total investment in the project will be approaching $100 million, Cross said. The product line at the Cambridge City facility will be more than just pork and chicken but include some new lines for the company.
The Redevelopment Commission approved a resolution amending the original TIF resolution that declared RCF Kitchens as the designated taxpayer, to designate Sugar Creek Packing Co. as the taxpayer for the property, which means the county can capture the TIF revenue from Sugar Creek. The Wayne County Advisory Plan Commission must approved the new designation followed by approval from the Wayne County Commissioners.
As part of the resolution, the taxing units effected by the TIF district, including the Western Wayne School Corp. and Jackson Township, will be notified of any financial impact.
RCF had an abatement in place and Sugar Creek has chosen to continue that abatement, Cross said.
Tom Bollinger, Sugar Creek CEO, updated the Wayne County Council in August on the project.
“It sounded like ‘All systems a go’ at that time, “ he said. “I think they are still looking at 400 jobs but they are doing some aggressive and creative proposals for their (sewage) pretreatment. They are working with the federal EPA (Environmental Protection Agency). They will probably bring it online in stages.”
When looking at incentives the county could offer, the company had the option of going pure TIF, similar to Dot Foods which is also located in the industrial park, or a mixture of abatement and TIF, Cross said. A pure TIF would have supported an approximately $10 million bond issue, but the mix will fund an approximately $8 million bond.
There will be claw back language in the TIF resolution to require paybacks to the county if employment levels are not met. The resolution will also include language for Sugar Creek to assume all risk of the TIF bond because the County Council will not re-amortize the bond like it did for Dot Foods, he said.
The bond will be sold sometime in November with the first interest payment probably due in July 2015, he said. A timeline will be established to approve the TIF funding resolution. The financial projections will be sent to the commission members prior to the meetings that will be required, sometime in October.
Commission Member Suzy Dungan asked if Sugar Creek had presented a projection of wages for employees without the salaried employees averaged into the figure. The only wages provided so far have been an average.
That is being developed by the Economic Development Corp. of Wayne County and a copy will be provided, Cross said. Sugar Creek’s wage rate will not be overall as great as Dot Foods but the company will offer a full array of benefits.
Dungan requested of the commission members that when it comes time to determine how much of the TIF funding on Taconic Farms and possibly Sugar Creek are captured by the county to pay for infrastructure improvements in the Industrial Park, they consider passing some revenue back to the taxing units.
Cross also said Sugar Creek bought the split level house located along Indiana 1 near the industrial park for use by executives from the company headquarters in Washington Court House, Ohio to stay in while visiting the construction site. The house has been vacant and was the victim of thieves who took plumbing and copper.
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