Laserfiche WebLink
•CITY OF SOUTH BEND OFFICE OF THE CLERK <br /> Committee Chair Ferlic then opened the floor to members of the public wishing to speak in favor <br /> of or in opposition to this bill. <br /> Sue Kesim,4022 Kennedy Drive, stated, I would like to point out that last year, Council gave$117 <br /> million in abatements. I would also like to know if this is the same Patel that has done the Marriot <br /> downtown and, if so, that was already given millions of dollars. I think Dairy Queen's franchises <br /> make millions of dollars. I would just like to point out you've given an awful lot of abatements. <br /> Committee Chair Ferlic gave the floor to the petitioner for a rebuttal. <br /> Ms. Patel replied,No,we are not the same Patel's. We are not even related, we only know we live <br /> in the same town. That is how we know each other and there is no relation whatsoever. This is our <br /> first (is) tax abatement for my company, or me as an owner. Dairy Queen as a franchise would <br /> not benefit from this if the tax abatement is granted because whatever my agreement with Dairy <br /> Queen is, I have to pay them. Dairy Queen as a franchise would not benefit from this because this <br /> is individually owned. <br /> Councilmember John Voorde stated, We have given tax abatements to projects that end up having <br /> retail space in them, so, there is that. <br /> Due to a lack of quorum, Bill No. 18-64 was sent to the full Council with no recommendation. <br /> Bill No. 18-66- South Bend Ethanol, LLC Designating Tax Abatement <br /> Mr. Buckenmeyer stated, This one (1) is exciting as it is a significant expansion at South Bend <br /> Ethanol. If you have been following the history you will know they went through some tough times <br /> in years past. They were recently purchased by Mercuria and are looking at a substantial retooling <br /> and expansion to expand their production capabilities. We are looking at a$30 million investment <br /> in new capital equipment. This is a personal property tax abatement and is not real estate based. It <br /> will expand the manufacturing capacity from sixty-five(65)million gallons to one hundred (100) <br /> million gallons per year. Some of the side benefits include a great ripple effect in our region. An <br /> additional twelve and a half(12.5) million bushels of corn will be purchased from local farmers <br /> from around the region in addition to what is already trucked in there on a daily basis. All the other <br /> ripple effects, they anticipate about $140 million of direct local economic benefit. Sixty-six (66) <br /> jobs will be retained and five(5) more will be added over the next two (2) years. The bottom line <br /> here is even after the abatement,they will contribute over$8 million in taxes over the next ten(10) <br /> years. They are a substantial contributor and I think we are well justified in providing a little bit of <br /> support to help them invest in our community. <br /> Rob Winks, 50946 Hawthorne Meadow Drive, South Bend, IN, stated, This project is basically a <br /> continuation of what Noble had started. Noble basically came in and mandated the place and kept <br /> it running at sixty-five (65) million. Mercuria bought it through a distressed asset sale and now is <br /> taking the volume up to the one hundred (100) million level and we need to basically go back and <br /> the most important part is reliability. Boilers needed to be replaced and that is the biggest problem <br /> we have. We are having to go out there and replace them at $10 million. We have to also change <br /> all the permutation tanks because we can only fill those up to sixty percent(60%)due to structural <br /> integrity issues. We analyzed these problems to get this process manufactured. In able to get to <br /> EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT <br /> 455 County-City Building 227 W.Jefferson Bvld South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9221 f574.235.9173 TTD 574.235.5567 www.southbendin.gov <br /> 5 <br />