HomeMy WebLinkAboutBill No 22-24 Waiver of Noncompliance for Imagineering Finishing Technologies RP CITY OF SOUTH BEND
COMMUNITY INVESTMENT
May 18, 2022 Filed in Clerk's Office
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Councilmember Rachel Tomas Morgan, Chairperson MAY 18 2022
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Community Investment Committee _ U1.,;_.
South Bend Common Council U91V1�t uN,E_S
4"' Floor, County-City Building CITY CLERK. JOUTH BEND,IN
South Bend, IN 46601
Dear Councilmember Tomas Morgan,
Attached please find a proposed form of resolution approving a waiver of noncompliance,pursuant
to Indiana Code 6-1.1-12.1-11.3, for Imagineering Finishing Technologies.
The Company filed a Form CF-1/RP and CF-1/PP with the City of South Bend in 2021,however,
the Company inadvertently did not file the Form 322 and Form 103 with the Auditor's office.
In an annual self-audit, the company discovered that they failed to submit forms required for the
continuation of their real property and personal property tax abatements. Imagineering shared that
the omission was due to staff turnover within Imagineering and at Kruggel Lawton.
The company is requesting that the Common Council waive noncompliance with the filing
deadline for tax deduction forms including the Form 322 and Form 103.
The Department of Community Investment endorses and supports this waiver as the Company has
been on track with their abatement milestones. The initial projection associated with building
improvements was $3.5 million and the actual cost through December 31, 2022,was $2,254,753.
The project has met the employment representation stated in the original petition for tax abatement
from when the project began operating, until the present date.
We ask that the attached resolution be referred to the Community Investment Committee for an
advisory recommendation and then heard at the Common Council meeting to be held on May 23,
2022.
A representative from Imagineering will be present at the meetings. Should you require additional
information, please let me know.
EXCELLENCE ACCOUNTABILITY INNOVATION INCLUSION EMPOWERMENT
1400S County-City Building 227 W.Jefferson Blvd. South Bend,Indiana 46601 p 574.235.9371 www.southbendin.gov
CITY OF SOUTH BEND ; COMMUNITY INVESTMENT
Sincerely,
Caleb Bauer
Acting Executive Director
Department of Community Investment
Attachments
CC: Michael Seiler, Imagineering Finishing Technologies
Sandra Kennedy, Corporation Counsel
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Page 12
ler-k's Office
BILL NO. 22-24
2027
RESOLUTION NO.
CITY< Ji��S
A RESOLUTION OF THE COMMON COUNCIL OF--= -`-�BEND,IN
THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, INDIANA CONFIRMING
THE GRANT OF CERTAIN REAL PROPERTY TAX ABATEM
DEDUCTIONS AND WAIVING NONCOMPLIANCE FOR PRO ER
COMMONLY KNOWN AS
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3722 FOUNDATION CT., SOUTH BEND, INDIANA 8 o Mqr IB o' c
FOR c��gwti 10?
Imagineering Enterprises, Inc. 9�s°�ptiF 1
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WHEREAS, on September 10, 2018,the Common Council of the City of South Bend(the
"Common Council") adopted Resolution No. 4741-18 (the "2018 Resolution"), approving a six
(6) year real property tax deduction for a new speculative building located at 3722 Foundation Ct.
South Bend, IN 46628 (the "Building") by Imagineering Enterprises, Inc. or "Taxpayer", within
an area located in the City of South Bend that had been designated an economic revitalization area
in accordance with IND. CODE § 6-1.1-12.1-1, et sea.;
WHEREAS, as part of Imagineering Enterprises Inc. deduction application, Imagineering
Enterprises, Inc. described for the Common Council that Imagineering Enterprises, Inc. would by
the end of the three (3) year designation period (a) invest $1,500,000 on construction of a new
speculative industrial building, (b) create 15 or retain 41 direct jobs;
WHEREAS, Imagineering Enterprises Inc. completed a construction of 15,000 S.F.
building and has met all objectives in its deduction application;
WHEREAS, while Imagineering Enterprises, Inc submitted its CF-I/RP form to the City
of South Bend Department of Community Investment in May 2021, the company inadvertently
failed timely and properly to file the Application for Deduction from Assessed Valuation of
Structures in Economic Revitalization Areas ("Form 322/RE") and the related Compliance
Statement of Benefits Real Property Deduction("CF-I/RP") to the St. Joseph County Auditor;
WHEREAS, the Common Council recognizes that (a) Imagineering Enterprises, Inc. has
fulfilled its pledge to construct a new speculative building; (b) Imagineering Enterprises, Inc. has
requested a waiver of its inadvertent oversight for filing of the Application Forms in the wrong
office to claim benefits of the tax deduction for the first year of the tax deduction, which the
Common Council has the power and authority to approve under Indiana law, and(c) Imagineering
Enterprises, Inc would have been entitled to receive the tax deduction for the first two years of the
deduction period had no noncompliance event occurred;
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WHEREAS, the Indiana General Assembly has expressed the policy of this State by
enacting laws that expressly permit tax abatement noncompliance events such as the untimely or
erroneous filing of an application form to be waived; and
WHEREAS, the noncompliance event has been corrected, and a public hearing of the
Common Council has been held on the subject of this Resolution.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED BY THE COMMON COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF SOUTH BEND, AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Taxpayer has presented testimonial and documentary evidence
supporting the Taxpayer's (a) progress towards satisfying its obligations detailed in its original
Statement of Benefits and its application for tax deduction related to the building construction
located at 3722 Foundation Ct, South Bend, Indiana(the"Property"),and(b)inadvertent oversight
leading to a belated filing or filing in the incorrect office of the Form 322/RE "Application for
Deduction from Assessed Valuation of Structures in Economic Revitalization Areas"to claim the
benefits of a tax deduction for the January 1, 2020 assessment date of the Property.
SECTION 2. The foregoing facts, taken together, lead the Common Council to conclude
that the Taxpayer has substantially fulfilled its projected plans to purchase, improve, and conduct
operations at the Property contemplated as part of the 2018 Resolution(the"Deduction") and that
its belated/errant filing of an application required to claim the benefits of the Deduction as of for
taxes due and payable in 2021 was inadvertent.
SECTION 3. The Common Council hereby waives all matters of noncompliance that may
be waived under State and local law regarding the late filing of applicable deduction applications
in order for the Taxpayer to claim and receive the benefit of the Deduction on its investment
contemplated as part of the 2018 Resolution as of the January 1, 2020 assessment date, all as is
permitted under IND. CODE § 6-1.1-12.1-11.3 (including specific waiver of any and all
nonconformities relating to the requirement, under IND. CODE § 6-1.1-12.1-5 that economic
revitalization area deduction applications be timely filed with the county auditor to claim property
tax deductions for the 2020-Pay-2021 tax year).
SECTION 4. The Common Council incorporates herein by reference, and hereby ratifies
and reaffirms: (a)the 2018 Resolution; (b)the tax deduction application and statements of benefits
of the Taxpayer; and (c) the recitals of this Resolution. The Common Council and the Clerk of
the City of South Bend are authorized to take all such further acts and execute and deliver all such
further documents for the St. Joseph County Auditor or otherwise as may be reasonably necessary
to give effect to this Resolution, all without further application to or formal action by the Common
Council.
SECTION 5. This Resolution shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage
and approval by the Mayor.
Sharon L. McBride, President
South Bend Common Council
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E� y IMAGINEERING'"
FINISHING TECHNOL
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TE rm 7he1ndusrryKrmwledge.Source'"forMeral1-ZZ
iceCaleb Bauer Deputy Executive Director City rt South Bend munity Investment D
(574)235-5898 1N
cbauer@southbendin.gov
This letter serves to inform you of an omission on behalf of Imagineering Enterprises,Inc.During our annual self-audit,it came
to our attention that we have mistakenly omitted the submission of our Form 322 RE and 322 PP.Imagineering completed our
Foundation Court passivation line on 1/31/2019 and our building expansion on 12/16/2019.Upon investigation,with assistance
from Kruggel Lawton CPA,we have identified the cause of this omission,as explained below,and have generated a plan to
A promptly correct this issue.
Imagineering had a change in CFO in 2018.The original CFO,Joseph Rowan,began the process of obtaining the abatements
for Imagineering.The transition of the abatement status was not properly communicated to me-our current CFO.While we
were knowledgeable of the abatements,we believed we were filing all the correct annual documents(CF-I RE and CF-I PP).
We were not aware of Form 322 needing to be filed in 2020,upon the completion of our expansions.
In addition,our prior CFO,Joseph Rowan,was filing our annual property tax returns.Upon my taking over the CFO role,we
requested the services of Kruggel Lawton for our annual filings.We also experienced a change in our Kruggel Lawton
representative.Through all this transition,everyone did their part to the best of their knowledge,however,we now know the
required submission of Form 322 was not communicated to the pertinent parties.
In 2020,Imagineering faced the challenges that many companies faced due to COVID 19.Our Accounting Manager,Lauren
sv Eby,was pregnant at the time and given the opportunity to work remotely.Due to remote work and her being on maternity
leave starting in late April of 2020,we did not have as strong of communication gateways in place before filing in May.
Looking back,we could have internally communicated better and asked more questions regarding the abatements.
Regarding the 2 projects listed above,the Foundation Court Passivation line was completed on 1/31/2019 at a total cost of
$413,642 and the Foundation Court Building Expansion was completed on 12/16/2019 at a total cost of$1,841,111. Regarding
our total employment at the Foundation Court facility,our average headcount for the first 4 months of 2022 was 88 full-time
employees(which includes a few employees who moved from our other local facility to Foundation Court)with an average
wage(combining hourly and salaried,direct and indirect employees)of$27.63 per hour.This compares to an average of 47
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
5}`' included in the 88 current employees,are 5 additional new hires scheduled to start during May `22 as well as 14 additional job
positions we have posted,but remain unfilled due largely to continued hiring challenges throughout Covid 19 pandemic and
�:. . current labor shortage. In 2023,we are scheduled to take on a large new contract supporting a new American made all-electric
truck—this program will fully utilize our new expanded footprint at our Foundation Court facility and is expected to result in at
least 6 new full-time positions at Foundation Court,not including the new employees/positions mentioned already above.
We appreciate you taking the time to consider our request to retroactively file for our abatements.Our goal is to correct our
misfiling and maintain compliance.We continue to improve our processes to avoid mistakes like these in the future.If you feel
it necessary to discuss this issue in-depth,we are happy to do so.
Yours Truly,
l�Fi ti
�.i�•`,,` Michael Seiler,CFO&EVP of Strategy
mseiler@iftww.com
574-287-2941 Ext.723
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