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Office of the Mayor
NEWS RELEASE
September 7, 2007
10 a.m.
2007 looks positive for job creation, commercial growth
Contact: Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications&Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564
or Bob Mathia, Assistant Director of Economic Development, 235-9371
With another one-third of the year to go, 2007 is shaping up to be one of the best years in
a decade for new-job creation along with commercial investment and growth, according
to data filed with 2007 tax-abatement requests from the City of South Bend.
For the first eight months of 2007, approved tax abatements will lead to the creation of
186 new jobs with an increased payroll of$8.9 million. During that same period, tax
abatement petitions filed by 17 commercial firms helped retain in South Bend an
additional 1,453.5 jobs. Another 14 residential petitions will create 225 housing units in
the city.
Through Aug. 25 of this year alone, the projected $102.7-million investment in South
Bend exceeds full-year totals for the past nine years, while 2007's total payroll increase
for two-thirds of the year already is the largest of all but one of the last nine years.
While $9.4 million in cumulative taxes were abated in 2007, the projects will pay an
estimated $7.1 million in taxes, according to a report prepared for the Sept. 7 meeting of
the city's Redevelopment Commission.
"The city's investment in key infrastructure, including the Metronet, and a pro-business
policy that stimulates job growth and expansion from existing companies has helped set
the stage for this commercial investment," said Mayor Stephen J. Luecke. "When local
business expands, so do the economic fortunes of the community and its residents."
Tax abatements are essential to fostering local job growth as businesses face an
increasingly complex and global arena of competition.
"The cumulative taxes abated represent less than one-tenth of the expansion costs and are
surpassed by the increased payroll these businesses will spend in creating new jobs for
residents," Luecke said. "That's sound stewardship to ensure that these resources are
invested in South Bend and not South Dakota or South America."
According to figures tallied by the city's department of Community and Economic
Development, 1,639.5 total jobs are impacted by this year's 35 tax-abatement petitions to
date — 186 new jobs and 1,453.5 jobs retained. New jobs represent 11.3 percent of the
total, the third highest percentage since 1999. The payroll increase to date, $8,938,348,
exceeds the full-year totals for all but 2000, which reached $13.7 million.
The $102,764,284 in project costs will have an estimated assessed value of$82,845,424.
A total of$9,435,250 in taxes will be abated through these requests, over periods ranging
from 3 to 10 years.
To date, firms requesting tax abatements plan to expand facilities by 591,036 square feet,
surpassed only by full-year totals for 1999, 2000 and 2002.
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