July 23, 2014 at 2:10 p.m.
Council denies tax abatement (08/09/07)
Jay County Council
By By TRAVIS MINNEAR-
A southern Jay County confined swine feeding operation has been denied a request for three tax abatements by the Jay County Council.
But council members gave the OK to an abatement for a Holiday Inn Express to be located on West Votaw Street in Portland.
The issue at hand in the denial of the CFO abatement, Councilman Gerald Kirby said, is that construction began before brothers Chance, John and Rhett Retter requested the abatements.
Once finished, the facility will consist of three barns that house more than 10,200 hogs, said Chance Retter, one of three owners of the operation. Two of the barns are designed to be nurseries that hold 4,000 pigs each. The third will be a "finisher" to raise 2,200 hogs at a time until the swine go to slaughter.
Council attorney George Lopez informed members that an exception does exist that allows the council to offer waivers to people who file after construction has started.
But the majority of the council decided not to make exceptions for the Retters. Members voted 4-3 to deny the requests.
A tax abatement is a phase-in of new property taxes due on developments.
"I want you to understand when we open the barn door we have to be fair," said Kirby, a member of the tax abatement advisory committee that had earlier voted to recommend denial of the request.
"I hate to be firm on it, but I hate to start down that slippery slope of exceptions," he added.
Councilman Jim Zimmerman, also a member of the tax abatement advisory committee who is a farmer and confined feeding operator, begged to differ.
"We keep talking about we want young people to stay here. I think we need to do what we can to help you guys get started," Zimmerman told the brothers.
Chance Retter said he respected the council's decision, but wasn't sure why the option to make an exception wasn't used.
"I don't know why they have these waiver rights if they're not going to use them," he said after the meeting.
He said the reason he and his brothers did not file for abatements in time is because they were not aware of stipulations regarding new construction.
"We should have got our butts up there a lot quicker, before they started moving dirt," Chance Retter said.
Council members approved a 10-year abatement for Stay Jay Hotels LLC for the Holiday Inn Express, which will be built on the north side of West Votaw Street, west of Industrial Park Drive.
Plans for the hotel were announced about two years ago at a site north of Portland east of U.S. 27. Earlier this year, project developers announced the choice of the new site, which is the former home and land of Dr. Eugene Gillum.
In other business, the council unanimously approved the following decisions:
•Appropriated for $3,350 from the reassessment fund to pay for a printer for the Jay County assessor's office.
•Agreed to divide a $48,862 federal bioterrorism grant among a public health coordinator's salary, office supplies and travel and telephone expenses.
•Loaned the Jay County Regional Sewer District $75,000 for contractual services and start-up money. Auditor Freda Corwin said the money will be paid back once the district begins to have funds coming in.[[In-content Ad]]Jay County's sheriff says the proposed $104,000 increase to the department's 2008 budget is imperative to maintain services and keep up with price hikes for equipment and other necessities.
Much of the proposed increase is due to wages. Sheriff Ray Newton said the addition of new sergeant and investigator positions with combined salaries of nearly $72,000 will help monitor convicted sex offenders and drug crimes more efficiently.
"These are very important positions that we need to have," Newton said.
The sheriff's salary also is scheduled to rise in the coming year. It's slated to go from $43,334.20 to $81,370.
Newton said the increase is not as serious as it might look at first, because he is on a contract. That means he does not receive excess money from meal money for inmates being held at the Jay County jail.
If he would have participated in the practice, which is allowed by the state of Indiana, he said he likely would have earned more money than the proposed pay increase provides.
The department's chief deputy, secretary, transportation officer and administrative assistant also received projected combined pay raises of $12,910.71. Training also is a reason for the increase in appropriations.
The cost of training today's law enforcement officials has increased because more extensive instruction is required, Newton said. The cost of training and training supplies has gone from $1,600 in 2007 to $3,500 in 2008.
"These classes are very expensive, $300 to $500 per dispatcher, and this is what the state mandates," Newton told the Jay County Council Wednesday evening.
Other important features also require extra money to be available, Newton said. For example, he added, 2008 will be the first year deputies are able to receive overtime pay. Pending approval from Jay County Council, there will be a fund worth $7,000 set aside for employees who work more than 40 hours in a week.
Right now the sheriff's department relies on "comp time" to compensate deputies, Newton said. This is similar to vacation time earned for every hour over 40 worked in a week.
"We are getting to the point now where some of these people are starting to max out on their comp time," Newton said. "And when they do, I don't have any money to pay them."
Newton said he hopes additional appropriations to the budget help the sheriff's department finish 2008 without slashing options to make ends meet.
Separately, Jay County Council members decided how to administer raises for part-time employees for the 2008 budget.
The council struggled to find a fair way to raise pay, President Marilyn Coleman admitted.
"Every year we wrestle with this," she said.
After conversation about how to increase wages, the council decided to up pay for most part-time workers over three years to entry level wages at specific pay grades, depending on position and department:
•Employees of Jay County Emergency Medical Services, community corrections, jail, 911 dispatch and highway and sheriff's departments will be at pay grade eight.
•Clerical workers will be at pay grade six.
•Civil defense employees and the courthouse custodian will earn pay grade five status.
•The health department's nurse will receive a shift to grade 14. The food inspector will be at eight while the part-time registrar, vital records assistant and health maintenance positions will be at grade six.
Councilman Gerald Kirby said the solution is not perfect, but will help the council budget more effectively in the future.
"At least we are getting on some sort of schedule that we can live with," he said.
But council members gave the OK to an abatement for a Holiday Inn Express to be located on West Votaw Street in Portland.
The issue at hand in the denial of the CFO abatement, Councilman Gerald Kirby said, is that construction began before brothers Chance, John and Rhett Retter requested the abatements.
Once finished, the facility will consist of three barns that house more than 10,200 hogs, said Chance Retter, one of three owners of the operation. Two of the barns are designed to be nurseries that hold 4,000 pigs each. The third will be a "finisher" to raise 2,200 hogs at a time until the swine go to slaughter.
Council attorney George Lopez informed members that an exception does exist that allows the council to offer waivers to people who file after construction has started.
But the majority of the council decided not to make exceptions for the Retters. Members voted 4-3 to deny the requests.
A tax abatement is a phase-in of new property taxes due on developments.
"I want you to understand when we open the barn door we have to be fair," said Kirby, a member of the tax abatement advisory committee that had earlier voted to recommend denial of the request.
"I hate to be firm on it, but I hate to start down that slippery slope of exceptions," he added.
Councilman Jim Zimmerman, also a member of the tax abatement advisory committee who is a farmer and confined feeding operator, begged to differ.
"We keep talking about we want young people to stay here. I think we need to do what we can to help you guys get started," Zimmerman told the brothers.
Chance Retter said he respected the council's decision, but wasn't sure why the option to make an exception wasn't used.
"I don't know why they have these waiver rights if they're not going to use them," he said after the meeting.
He said the reason he and his brothers did not file for abatements in time is because they were not aware of stipulations regarding new construction.
"We should have got our butts up there a lot quicker, before they started moving dirt," Chance Retter said.
Council members approved a 10-year abatement for Stay Jay Hotels LLC for the Holiday Inn Express, which will be built on the north side of West Votaw Street, west of Industrial Park Drive.
Plans for the hotel were announced about two years ago at a site north of Portland east of U.S. 27. Earlier this year, project developers announced the choice of the new site, which is the former home and land of Dr. Eugene Gillum.
In other business, the council unanimously approved the following decisions:
•Appropriated for $3,350 from the reassessment fund to pay for a printer for the Jay County assessor's office.
•Agreed to divide a $48,862 federal bioterrorism grant among a public health coordinator's salary, office supplies and travel and telephone expenses.
•Loaned the Jay County Regional Sewer District $75,000 for contractual services and start-up money. Auditor Freda Corwin said the money will be paid back once the district begins to have funds coming in.[[In-content Ad]]Jay County's sheriff says the proposed $104,000 increase to the department's 2008 budget is imperative to maintain services and keep up with price hikes for equipment and other necessities.
Much of the proposed increase is due to wages. Sheriff Ray Newton said the addition of new sergeant and investigator positions with combined salaries of nearly $72,000 will help monitor convicted sex offenders and drug crimes more efficiently.
"These are very important positions that we need to have," Newton said.
The sheriff's salary also is scheduled to rise in the coming year. It's slated to go from $43,334.20 to $81,370.
Newton said the increase is not as serious as it might look at first, because he is on a contract. That means he does not receive excess money from meal money for inmates being held at the Jay County jail.
If he would have participated in the practice, which is allowed by the state of Indiana, he said he likely would have earned more money than the proposed pay increase provides.
The department's chief deputy, secretary, transportation officer and administrative assistant also received projected combined pay raises of $12,910.71. Training also is a reason for the increase in appropriations.
The cost of training today's law enforcement officials has increased because more extensive instruction is required, Newton said. The cost of training and training supplies has gone from $1,600 in 2007 to $3,500 in 2008.
"These classes are very expensive, $300 to $500 per dispatcher, and this is what the state mandates," Newton told the Jay County Council Wednesday evening.
Other important features also require extra money to be available, Newton said. For example, he added, 2008 will be the first year deputies are able to receive overtime pay. Pending approval from Jay County Council, there will be a fund worth $7,000 set aside for employees who work more than 40 hours in a week.
Right now the sheriff's department relies on "comp time" to compensate deputies, Newton said. This is similar to vacation time earned for every hour over 40 worked in a week.
"We are getting to the point now where some of these people are starting to max out on their comp time," Newton said. "And when they do, I don't have any money to pay them."
Newton said he hopes additional appropriations to the budget help the sheriff's department finish 2008 without slashing options to make ends meet.
Separately, Jay County Council members decided how to administer raises for part-time employees for the 2008 budget.
The council struggled to find a fair way to raise pay, President Marilyn Coleman admitted.
"Every year we wrestle with this," she said.
After conversation about how to increase wages, the council decided to up pay for most part-time workers over three years to entry level wages at specific pay grades, depending on position and department:
•Employees of Jay County Emergency Medical Services, community corrections, jail, 911 dispatch and highway and sheriff's departments will be at pay grade eight.
•Clerical workers will be at pay grade six.
•Civil defense employees and the courthouse custodian will earn pay grade five status.
•The health department's nurse will receive a shift to grade 14. The food inspector will be at eight while the part-time registrar, vital records assistant and health maintenance positions will be at grade six.
Councilman Gerald Kirby said the solution is not perfect, but will help the council budget more effectively in the future.
"At least we are getting on some sort of schedule that we can live with," he said.
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