Warsaw City Council Establishes Revolving Fund
September 9, 2020 at 2:31 a.m.
Warsaw City Council Establishes Revolving Fund
By Amanda [email protected]
The first company to benefit from that is Wishbone Medical that is purchasing a building at 100 Capital Drive to expand. That loan is for $150,000 and will sit in escrow at the bank to help Wishbone secure other bank loans. They will be on the hook to pay the interest-free loan back in two years’ time, otherwise they’ll be charged an interest rate for 12 monthly payments.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said Wishbone came to the city and asked for the incentive to help with their purchasing of the building east of town.
“They are poised to grow, they’re excited, they’ve outgrown their space, they’re hiring on additional professional staff, and we felt compelled to try to make this happen with the gap they had in the purchase and remodeling their building, and that’s essentially what this is,” Thallemer said. “Wishbone needed to back up their loan.”
The loan is not forgiveable.
City Planner Jeremy Skinner said the incentive for Wishbone is that they had to purchase the building and they needed the money to help get a loan and now they’ll have time to do that in two years.
In essence, this is a new program for the city of Warsaw that has not been done in the past. The council has talked about it in prior months, and Skinner said many other communities have this in place.
“Every deal that you sign is it’s own risk, so don’t confuse the loan program with a specific risk, every risk would be within the agreement that you sign,” Skinner said. Because this is not a forgivable loan, Skinner said, it’s different than other agreements the city goes into with local companies.
Each year, companies will be able to ask the city for help from the fund, and Thallemer said those funds that are available will fluctuate year to year as payments and requests come in.
“This just gives us more flexibility ... that we can assess the risk as a council and there is certainly a return on investment, which I think we’ve seen and we’ll continue to see but that’s part of trying to create an environment where someone can get across the finish line. ... and ultimately hire (employees),” Thallemer said.
Skinner said it’s a gap not filled here.
“When you’re dealing with companies like Wishbone ... their upfront capital cost is the issue, not their long-term machine or operating equipment which you can give tax abatements for or give tax incentives for,” Skinner said.
Councilman Jeff Grose said he likes walking in this direction and greatly appreciates the work with all of the development he’s seen compared to what is seen short and long term.
Thallemer called the new program a prudent step to help people who want to come to the community and create jobs.
“I’m sure we’ll have to put money in every year,” he said. “But whatever amount we forgive certainly is calculated and purposeful in what we determine the returns to be. It fills an immediate gap.”
A public hearing to move the $150,000 to the revolving loan fund will take place at the next city council meeting.
Also Tuesday, the council heard from Grose about the deer reduction task force. He said people who have problems with deer or people who are archers can apply online at warsaw.in.gov, click the police link and find the Deer Task Force link.
The deer reduction team sends approved archers out to nuisance zones – which is literally the entire city, including public and private property – to take down deer.
Last year, the force took out about 50 deer, Grose said.
“We probably have 30 to 50 archers, many of them have been doing it for many, many years. They’re dedicated to serve, they love to hunt, and they really believe it’s a public service,” Grose said.
The council also heard from Thallemer about a new piece of artwork that will permanently hang in the City Hall Council Chambers that was donated by local attorney David Kolbe. The portrait is of Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who this county is named after. South Bend orthopedic surgeon Dr. Zbigniew Sobol owned the portrait and told Kolbe before he passed away that he would like to have the portrait hang somewhere in Kosciusko County.
The first company to benefit from that is Wishbone Medical that is purchasing a building at 100 Capital Drive to expand. That loan is for $150,000 and will sit in escrow at the bank to help Wishbone secure other bank loans. They will be on the hook to pay the interest-free loan back in two years’ time, otherwise they’ll be charged an interest rate for 12 monthly payments.
Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer said Wishbone came to the city and asked for the incentive to help with their purchasing of the building east of town.
“They are poised to grow, they’re excited, they’ve outgrown their space, they’re hiring on additional professional staff, and we felt compelled to try to make this happen with the gap they had in the purchase and remodeling their building, and that’s essentially what this is,” Thallemer said. “Wishbone needed to back up their loan.”
The loan is not forgiveable.
City Planner Jeremy Skinner said the incentive for Wishbone is that they had to purchase the building and they needed the money to help get a loan and now they’ll have time to do that in two years.
In essence, this is a new program for the city of Warsaw that has not been done in the past. The council has talked about it in prior months, and Skinner said many other communities have this in place.
“Every deal that you sign is it’s own risk, so don’t confuse the loan program with a specific risk, every risk would be within the agreement that you sign,” Skinner said. Because this is not a forgivable loan, Skinner said, it’s different than other agreements the city goes into with local companies.
Each year, companies will be able to ask the city for help from the fund, and Thallemer said those funds that are available will fluctuate year to year as payments and requests come in.
“This just gives us more flexibility ... that we can assess the risk as a council and there is certainly a return on investment, which I think we’ve seen and we’ll continue to see but that’s part of trying to create an environment where someone can get across the finish line. ... and ultimately hire (employees),” Thallemer said.
Skinner said it’s a gap not filled here.
“When you’re dealing with companies like Wishbone ... their upfront capital cost is the issue, not their long-term machine or operating equipment which you can give tax abatements for or give tax incentives for,” Skinner said.
Councilman Jeff Grose said he likes walking in this direction and greatly appreciates the work with all of the development he’s seen compared to what is seen short and long term.
Thallemer called the new program a prudent step to help people who want to come to the community and create jobs.
“I’m sure we’ll have to put money in every year,” he said. “But whatever amount we forgive certainly is calculated and purposeful in what we determine the returns to be. It fills an immediate gap.”
A public hearing to move the $150,000 to the revolving loan fund will take place at the next city council meeting.
Also Tuesday, the council heard from Grose about the deer reduction task force. He said people who have problems with deer or people who are archers can apply online at warsaw.in.gov, click the police link and find the Deer Task Force link.
The deer reduction team sends approved archers out to nuisance zones – which is literally the entire city, including public and private property – to take down deer.
Last year, the force took out about 50 deer, Grose said.
“We probably have 30 to 50 archers, many of them have been doing it for many, many years. They’re dedicated to serve, they love to hunt, and they really believe it’s a public service,” Grose said.
The council also heard from Thallemer about a new piece of artwork that will permanently hang in the City Hall Council Chambers that was donated by local attorney David Kolbe. The portrait is of Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who this county is named after. South Bend orthopedic surgeon Dr. Zbigniew Sobol owned the portrait and told Kolbe before he passed away that he would like to have the portrait hang somewhere in Kosciusko County.
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