By SCOTT SMITH
Tribune staff writer
Kokomo — Kokomo Mayor Greg Goodnight last week asked Chrysler representatives to publicly explain the company’s amended personal property tax return, calling the filing “a source of profound concern.”
Chrysler officials have yet to publicly respond to the Aug. 19 letter, co-authored by Goodnight and Kokomo Common Council president Mike Kennedy, D-At Large.
Nonetheless, the agenda for Monday’s city council meeting, published Wednesday, includes an agenda item for “Response from Chrysler Corporation to Mayor Goodnight and Council President Kennedy’s Aug. 19 letter ...”
In the letter, which was leaked to the media Thursday, Goodnight and Kennedy said Chrysler’s July 15 amended filing has “contributed to the creation of an unprecedented fiscal crisis for governmental units in Kokomo and Howard County.”
“Chrysler’s intent to shift nearly 90 percent of what remains of its property tax liability after tax abatements does not just simply lower its tax bill, but shifts that tax to homeowners and other taxpayers of this county,” the letter states.
According to Howard County officials, Chrysler filed a notice in April that stated the company had $804 million in personal property in Howard County. That figure was intended to include the assessed value of all of the machinery inside the company’s Kokomo plants.
In June, the city council approved a $300 million, 10-year abatement on machinery Chrysler will add during a retooling of the Indiana Transmission Plant. Chrysler officials said the abatement would help preserve 1,184 jobs.
That abatement came on top of another tax break — a $43 million, five-year abatement passed by council in May — for an investment in the Kokomo Transmission and Kokomo Casting plants.
Then in July, Chrysler officials revised their original filing and claimed the company had just $92 million in personal property locally.
“We would expect ... that a good corporate citizen would discuss an issue of this magnitude with us candidly, well in advance of filing amended tax returns, and certainly while the Council was actively debating the tax abatement resolution in May and June,” the letter states.
Whether a Chrysler official will speak at Monday’s city council meeting remains unclear.
Thursday, Goodnight said there had been no confirmation from Chrysler.
Regardless of whether a Chrysler sends a representative to Monday’s meeting, city officials seem determined to pursue the matter.
“We intend to work with, and fully support, Howard County officials in their efforts to ensure Chrysler pays its full and fair share of taxes,” the letter continues.
The letter makes no mention of the decision by GM Holdings Corp. LLC to file for a large drop in assessed value on its personal property.
If county officials OK’d the lower assessed values for both companies, the result would be a $19 million shift from GM and Chrysler to other Howard County property taxpayers.
Center Township Assessor Sheila Pullen and Howard County Assessor Jamie Shepherd said the tax returns would cause huge budget deficits for local units of government and drastic cuts in government services. They said the end result would be higher tax bills for other county taxpayers.
• Scott Smith is a Kokomo Tribune staff writer. He may be reached at 765-454-8569 or via e-mail at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com
