Laserfiche WebLink
IMAGINEERINGr' <br /> ��� ;��• joy <br /> FINISHING TECHNOLOGIES F. <br /> �TF.Cj The IuNuav Knurvlrr(SkcSnursr'"fur.11rial Finishing tiulutlm 1/eQ, . <br /> off <br /> ce <br /> Caleb Bauer C/� Oq�N\` fj�O1 <br /> ^' Deputy Executive Director C 11i <br /> Department of Community Investment FAl f 41 <br /> City of South Bend So(/ [FS <br /> (574)235-5898 F <br /> cbauer@southbendin.gov /N <br /> This letter serves to inform you of an omission on behalf of Imagineering Enterprises,Inc.During our annual self-audit,it came <br /> f to our attention that we have mistakenly omitted the submission of our Form 322 RE and 322 PP.Imagineering completed our <br /> Foundation Court passivation line on 1/31/2019 and our building expansion on 12/16/2019.Upon investigation,with assistance <br /> from Kruggel Lawton CPA,we have identified the cause of this omission,as explained below,and have generated a plan to <br /> promptly correct this issue. <br /> Imagineering had a change in CFO in 2018.The original CFO,Joseph Rowan,began the process of obtaining the abatements <br /> for Imagineering.The transition of the abatement status was not properly communicated to me-our current CFO.While we <br /> were knowledgeable of the abatements,we believed we were filing all the correct annual documents(CF-I RE and CF-I PP). <br /> We were not aware of Form 322 needing to be filed in 2020,upon the completion of our expansions. <br /> In addition,our prior CFO,Joseph Rowan,was filing our annual property tax returns.Upon my taking over the CFO role,we <br /> requested the services of Kruggel Lawton for our annual filings.We also experienced a change in our Kruggel Lawton <br /> representative.Through all this transition,everyone did their part to the best of their knowledge,however,we now know the <br /> required submission of Form 322 was not communicated to the pertinent parties. <br /> ;Y <br /> In 2020,Imagineering faced the challenges that many companies faced due to COVID 19.Our Accounting Manager,Lauren <br /> Eby,was pregnant at the time and given the opportunity to work remotely.Due to remote work and her being on maternity <br /> leave starting in late April of 2020,we did not have as strong of communication gateways in place before filing in May. <br /> Looking back,we could have internally communicated better and asked more questions regarding the abatements. <br /> Regarding the 2 projects listed above,the Foundation Court Passivation line was completed on 1/31/2019 at a total cost of <br /> $413,642 and the Foundation Court Building Expansion was completed on 12/16/2019 at a total cost of$1,841,111. Regarding <br /> our total employment at the Foundation Court facility,our average headcount for the first 4 months of 2022 was 88 full-time <br /> employees(which includes a few employees who moved from our other local facility to Foundation Court)with an average <br /> wage(combining hourly and salaried,direct and indirect employees)of$27.63 per hour.This compares to an average of 47 <br /> employees in 2018 with an average wage of$17.98 per hour,and 67 in 2019 with an average wage of$18.03 per hour. Not <br /> included in the 88 current employees,are 5 additional new hires scheduled to start during May`22 as well as 14 additional job <br /> ;y positions we have posted,but remain unfilled due largely to continued hiring challenges throughout Covid 19 pandemic and <br /> current labor shortage. In 2023,we are scheduled to take on a large new contract supporting a new American made all-electric <br /> w:.v truck—this program will fully utilize our new expanded footprint at our Foundation Court facility and is expected to result in at <br /> i` least 6 new full-time positions at Foundation Court,not including the new employees/positions mentioned already above. <br /> We appreciate you taking the time to consider our request to retroactively file for our abatements.Our goal is to correct our <br /> misfiling and maintain compliance. We continue to improve our processes to avoid mistakes like these in the future.If you feel <br /> it necessary to discuss this issue in-depth,we are happy to do so. <br /> Yours Truly, <br /> QN4ti <br /> Michael Seiler,CFO&EVP of Strategy <br /> r, mseiler@iftww.com <br /> 574-287-2941 Ext.723 <br /> ,I: <br />