City Council Approves Resolution, MOU For Loan For Mentor Media
April 18, 2023 at 1:47 a.m.
City Council Approves Resolution, MOU For Loan For Mentor Media
By David [email protected]
The five-year forgiveable loan is for $250,000 and the equipment purchase is for $250,000. The Warsaw Redevelopment Commission approved resolutions and a MOU for the economic incentives April 10.
Mentor Media is going to occupy a portion (approximately 30,000 square feet) of the shell building sometime this fall as the 101,000-square-foot building is currently under construction at 1395 Polk Drive.
Community Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner told the council, “As a part of that economic development agreement, or understanding, there’s two pieces to that. One piece is that the Redevelopment Commission at their last commission meeting approved the $250,000 purchase of a piece of equipment that will be disposed to Mentor Media and it’ll hold a five-year lien on that piece of equipment.”
The second piece of the agreement, he said, is the loan that comes out of the Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT).
“We created a revolving loan fund ... in 2021. That loan allows us to give forgiveable loans to corporations who make investments in Warsaw, based on the number of jobs created and the investment that they’re making. That forgiveable loan cycles over a five-year period, so if they meet those agreements every year, they can get $50,000. If they’re still in good standing at the end of the year, that piece will be forgiven and they’ll be given another $50,000 and that goes for five years for a total of $250,000,” Skinner explained.
Councilman Jeff Grose asked how much Mentor Media was investing. Skinner said the shell building, being developed by WestHill Development Group, is about a $11.3 million building and Mentor Media is putting almost $4.6 million in personal property into the building.
Grose said Mentor Media will be hiring 25 employees, making an average of $50,000 to $80,000 per year.
Councilwoman Diane Quance said the reason the council was doing everything right now was because it took some time for the equipment to be ordered and built.
Skinner said the loan portion of the agreement was “pretty much a carbon copy” of what the city did with Nextremity before they were bought by Medartis. The loan portion won’t start until Mentor Media occupies the building.
Council President Jack Wilhite said he was pleased that the equipment was not immediately all Mentor Media’s as the city will have a lien against it until they meet all the requirements at the end of the five years.
Skinner then gave a presentation to the council on how these type of deals have worked in the past and what the city’s return was. The city has done three shell buildings to date.
The first shell building was developed in 2016 and is now home to Patrick Industries. Originally 60,000 square feet, it doubled in size in 2018 after Patrick Industries occupied it. The city’s economic incentive was a piece of property and $250,000 toward the development of the project, totaling about $500,000. Skinner said that project created over 170 new jobs and, as of 2022, it generated about $316,000 in tax revenue for the city.
The city’s development partners invested $6.5 million in a new building and Patrick Industries invested $3.1 million in new equipment.
Though they didn’t end up occupying the first shell building, it did bring Banner Medical to the Warsaw Technology Park, Skinner said. The Banner project consisted of a 45,000-square-foot building. Banner Medical invested $4 million in new equipment and WestHill Development invested $5.1 million in the new building. Skinner said they have over 40 employees and generated just over $102,000 in taxes in 2022.
The second shell building started construction in 2019 and was eventually occupied by Nextremity, now Medartis. The city incentivized the construction of the 57,000-square-foot building with about $500,000. Medartis invested $500,000 in new equipment while the city’s development partners invested $7.9 million in the new facility. The project has created over 120 jobs and generated around $170,000 in taxes for the city in 2022.
“I think the important thing to note is, with the Patrick Industries, the Banner Medical and the Medartis, if you look at what those properties were generating in taxes prior to our projects, that’s really what we’re doing, what we’re accomplishing ... we’re taking property that is not generating, it’s underutilized, underdeveloped, we’re developing it and we’re creating long-term growth for the city, not only in jobs but in property taxes. That’s the whole point of this,” Skinner said.
The third shell building is the one that will house Mentor Media. As of 2022, the property generated $394 in taxes. WestHill put a $11.3 million building on the property, with Mentor Media putting almost $4.6 million in new equipment in it. In 10 years, Skinner said, that building will be generating around $150,000 in property taxes per year, up from the $394 the city is collecting now.
He pointed out that in 2016, the city collected around $1,400 in total taxes on the ground at the Warsaw Technology Park. In 2022, the city collected about $595,000 off those properties, not including what will happen with Mentor Media and that shell building, he said. The projects have also created over 350 new jobs.
Thallemer noted that with the Nextremity economic incentive, they returned the first $50,000 payment to the city after Medartis purchased them. He also said the number of jobs created is a “very critical” part of this, but it’s the property tax dollars generated from the personal property tax on the equipment investment the companies make that really are what pays the community back to keep the tax rate low.
Skinner said none of his numbers reflect the personal property tax because the city doesn’t have the ability to know what the companies are paying in personal property. “So keep that in mind. This is just income taxes and property taxes. So they are paying personal property taxes as well that are not reflected in these numbers. So these numbers would be even greater if that was,” he said.
Thallemer asked Skinner what the next steps would be after the council approved the resolution and MOU. Skinner said there will be a final document for the council to approve at their May 1 meeting.
Quance made the motion to approve the resolution and MOU, Wilhite seconded it and it was approved 6-0, with Councilman Mike Klondaris absent.
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The five-year forgiveable loan is for $250,000 and the equipment purchase is for $250,000. The Warsaw Redevelopment Commission approved resolutions and a MOU for the economic incentives April 10.
Mentor Media is going to occupy a portion (approximately 30,000 square feet) of the shell building sometime this fall as the 101,000-square-foot building is currently under construction at 1395 Polk Drive.
Community Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner told the council, “As a part of that economic development agreement, or understanding, there’s two pieces to that. One piece is that the Redevelopment Commission at their last commission meeting approved the $250,000 purchase of a piece of equipment that will be disposed to Mentor Media and it’ll hold a five-year lien on that piece of equipment.”
The second piece of the agreement, he said, is the loan that comes out of the Economic Development Income Tax (EDIT).
“We created a revolving loan fund ... in 2021. That loan allows us to give forgiveable loans to corporations who make investments in Warsaw, based on the number of jobs created and the investment that they’re making. That forgiveable loan cycles over a five-year period, so if they meet those agreements every year, they can get $50,000. If they’re still in good standing at the end of the year, that piece will be forgiven and they’ll be given another $50,000 and that goes for five years for a total of $250,000,” Skinner explained.
Councilman Jeff Grose asked how much Mentor Media was investing. Skinner said the shell building, being developed by WestHill Development Group, is about a $11.3 million building and Mentor Media is putting almost $4.6 million in personal property into the building.
Grose said Mentor Media will be hiring 25 employees, making an average of $50,000 to $80,000 per year.
Councilwoman Diane Quance said the reason the council was doing everything right now was because it took some time for the equipment to be ordered and built.
Skinner said the loan portion of the agreement was “pretty much a carbon copy” of what the city did with Nextremity before they were bought by Medartis. The loan portion won’t start until Mentor Media occupies the building.
Council President Jack Wilhite said he was pleased that the equipment was not immediately all Mentor Media’s as the city will have a lien against it until they meet all the requirements at the end of the five years.
Skinner then gave a presentation to the council on how these type of deals have worked in the past and what the city’s return was. The city has done three shell buildings to date.
The first shell building was developed in 2016 and is now home to Patrick Industries. Originally 60,000 square feet, it doubled in size in 2018 after Patrick Industries occupied it. The city’s economic incentive was a piece of property and $250,000 toward the development of the project, totaling about $500,000. Skinner said that project created over 170 new jobs and, as of 2022, it generated about $316,000 in tax revenue for the city.
The city’s development partners invested $6.5 million in a new building and Patrick Industries invested $3.1 million in new equipment.
Though they didn’t end up occupying the first shell building, it did bring Banner Medical to the Warsaw Technology Park, Skinner said. The Banner project consisted of a 45,000-square-foot building. Banner Medical invested $4 million in new equipment and WestHill Development invested $5.1 million in the new building. Skinner said they have over 40 employees and generated just over $102,000 in taxes in 2022.
The second shell building started construction in 2019 and was eventually occupied by Nextremity, now Medartis. The city incentivized the construction of the 57,000-square-foot building with about $500,000. Medartis invested $500,000 in new equipment while the city’s development partners invested $7.9 million in the new facility. The project has created over 120 jobs and generated around $170,000 in taxes for the city in 2022.
“I think the important thing to note is, with the Patrick Industries, the Banner Medical and the Medartis, if you look at what those properties were generating in taxes prior to our projects, that’s really what we’re doing, what we’re accomplishing ... we’re taking property that is not generating, it’s underutilized, underdeveloped, we’re developing it and we’re creating long-term growth for the city, not only in jobs but in property taxes. That’s the whole point of this,” Skinner said.
The third shell building is the one that will house Mentor Media. As of 2022, the property generated $394 in taxes. WestHill put a $11.3 million building on the property, with Mentor Media putting almost $4.6 million in new equipment in it. In 10 years, Skinner said, that building will be generating around $150,000 in property taxes per year, up from the $394 the city is collecting now.
He pointed out that in 2016, the city collected around $1,400 in total taxes on the ground at the Warsaw Technology Park. In 2022, the city collected about $595,000 off those properties, not including what will happen with Mentor Media and that shell building, he said. The projects have also created over 350 new jobs.
Thallemer noted that with the Nextremity economic incentive, they returned the first $50,000 payment to the city after Medartis purchased them. He also said the number of jobs created is a “very critical” part of this, but it’s the property tax dollars generated from the personal property tax on the equipment investment the companies make that really are what pays the community back to keep the tax rate low.
Skinner said none of his numbers reflect the personal property tax because the city doesn’t have the ability to know what the companies are paying in personal property. “So keep that in mind. This is just income taxes and property taxes. So they are paying personal property taxes as well that are not reflected in these numbers. So these numbers would be even greater if that was,” he said.
Thallemer asked Skinner what the next steps would be after the council approved the resolution and MOU. Skinner said there will be a final document for the council to approve at their May 1 meeting.
Quance made the motion to approve the resolution and MOU, Wilhite seconded it and it was approved 6-0, with Councilman Mike Klondaris absent.
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