Like the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety did on Friday, the Redevelopment Commission on Monday approved an amendment to the Certified Technology Park agreement between the city and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation.
Warsaw Community and Economic Development Director Jeremy Skinner said they recertified in 2023 but it has taken the state since then to send back the agreement with the amendment.
He said, as far as he can tell, the only things that have changed are that it is a four-year agreement again - instead of a three-year; there’s a classification of tech parks, with Warsaw being a Certified Tech Park 2, which does allow the city to collect more than the cap of $5 million; and the due date for the annual report to the IEDC was moved to April 15. The annual report is a little more involved than in past years, Skinner said.
The amendment went into effect July 1, 2023, and goes through 2027.
Joe Thallemer, commission member and past mayor, said, “The amendments kept up with the legislative change, which we knew was going on. This CTP2, can you explain it, or is it just based on our timeline as a Certified Tech Park or ... does that mean we haven’t hit our $5 million (cap) yet?”
Skinner said he was assuming that’s what it means and if they hit the cap, it allows the city to be eligible for additional funds.
“Which is all new language,” Thallemer said. “This is what they were contemplating back in 2023. There was discussion that they were going to extend the increment beyond the $5 million.”
Skinner read part of the agreement, which states, “Not withstanding the foregoing or anything in the Act to the contrary, not more than an aggregate total of $5 million in CTP revenues or other funds that may be deposited into the State CTP Fund over the course of its designation unless designated as a level 2 CTP.”
By the Warsaw Tech Park being designated as a level 2 CTP, Skinner said they are eligible for additional funds once they hit the $5 million cap.
Thallemer said that’s the crux of the change in the amendment. “It gives us legal permission to continue growing increment beyond $5 million,” he said.
Once Warsaw hits the $5 million cap, Skinner said they’ll have to restart, “which means we’re not going to get credit for any of the jobs and revenue we’ve created. So we’ll restart at zero. Then you need new jobs after that, which would allow us to collect up to - last time I checked - $150,000 a year.”
Skinner later said the Tech Park has created 400 new jobs during its existence.
At the rate the Tech Park is going now, he said they’ll hit the $5 million cap by the end of 2027.
Thallemer made the motion to approve the amendment, Commission Secretary Bill Curl seconded it and the motion passed unanimously.
The Board of Works approved the amendment on Friday. With the commission’s approval of the amendment, it’ll now go back to the state.
In other business, the commission:
• Took the oath of office, given by Warsaw Mayor Jeff Grose.
• Re-elected the same officers for 2025 as 2024, who are George Clemens as president; Mike Klondaris, vice president; and Curl as secretary.
• Approved claims, including: $55.89 twice for NIPSCO; $163.49 and $399.46 for Indiana American Water; $8,894 for Barnes & Thornburg LLP; $3,841.53 and $2,848.02 for A & Z Engineering; $49,890 for DLZ; $300 for Kosciusko Development Inc.; $42,000 for West Hill Development LLC; and $50,000 for Mentor Supply Chain USA Inc.
The commission’s next meeting is at 4 p.m. Feb. 3 in the council chambers of City Hall.