Wildman Business Group continues to grow, and Tuesday night the company asked the Warsaw Common Council for another 10-year tax abatement on real property at 800 S. Buffalo St. City Planner Jeremy Skinner presented the new tax abatement request for R&B Investors Partnership, a partnership under the ownership of Wildman Business Group. “They are looking to do an addition on to the building for roughly $650,000. That includes some new dock space for shipping and receiving. And then they’re adding six new jobs,” Skinner said. He said they’re in between the guidelines for a five- and 10-year tax abatement. The city guidelines for a 10-year is $1 million in real property improvements and 10 new full-time jobs. The five-year abatement requires $500,000 in real property improvements and five full-time jobs. Skinner said he looked back on Wildman’s recent tax abatements and they have exceeded their previous tax abatement expected jobs creation since 2012, adding 17 jobs while projecting to add 10. He recommended the council approve the 10-year tax abatement based on previous projections as well as the dollar amount. Diane Quance, councilwoman, asked if the guidelines were the city’s and not the state’s, and Skinner replied that is correct. Josh Wildman, Wildman CEO, said, “We’re just growing. We’re doubling the company size about every five years.” He added that they’re preparing for future growth. Mayor Joe Thallemer said Wildman has always been great partners in the community and asked the council to consider the abatement based on its performance and partnership with the community. The council approved the 10-year abatement. In other business, the council approved: • Continuing the tax abatement on personal property for Milestone AV Technologies LLC. They have spent about $1.089 million in personal property improvements since filing the Statement of Benefits form in 2014. Milestone also added 30 new employees, Skinner said, and Milestone is still adding equipment, expecting to be completed by the end of this year. They expected to spend over $1.5 million in equipment. • A resolution reducing 2016 encumbrances totaling $150,174.92. The money, which was allocated for 2016 but then was determined as unnecessary, will be moved back into the reserves. Clerk-Treasurer Lynne Christiansen said the council has to do this every year for the Department of Local Government Finance so they can figure out the city’s tax rate. • A resolution authorizing the investment of public funds. It’s required every two years, according to Thallemer. • An ordinance on first and second reading to amend the 2016 salary ordinance. The amendment states cell phone allowance may be permitted to employees upon their department head recommendation requested through human resources and based on department needs, to cover city-related costs on their personal cell phone, paid semi-annually (June and December), and not to exceed $975 annually. The ordinance previously stated cell phone allowance was not to exceed $37.50 per pay period. The city moved to a new payroll system and it was discovered that employee cell phone allowances would be taxed with this new payroll system if the allowances continued to be placed on paychecks. Under the amended ordinance, employees will get a separate check semi-annually.
