Let’s resurrect incentive plan

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September 30, 2009

Anonymous The Kokomo Tribune Wed Sep 30, 2009, 12:44 AM EDT

THE ISSUE:Engineering jobs associated with the company eyeing the vacant Getrag plant in Tipton County.

OUR VIEW:Former Mayor McKillip’s incentive program could encourage more professionals to make the Kokomo MSA their home.

Sunday, we broke the news that Tipton County is courting a solar-panel maker to take over the vacant Getrag Transmission Manufacturing plant at U.S. 31 and Ind. 28.

Rick Hall, of the Indianapolis law firm Barnes & Thornburg, told county officials Monday the company could invest $450 million in property improvements and equipment and hire 850 people.

Though landing the outfit and jobs is not a done deal, it’s not too early for officials in Kokomo, Howard and Tipton counties to plan how to encourage workers to buy homes in the Kokomo Metropolitan Statistical Area. The Kokomo MSA includes Howard and Tipton counties.

We suggest enacting a financial incentive program to draw new residents to the area, as former Kokomo Mayor Matt McKillip did.

In November 2005, McKillip launched “Project Grow Kokomo.” His administration set aside $100,000 in Economic Development Income Tax funds, offering four-year college graduates living outside Howard and four adjacent counties up to $10,000 toward a mortgage on a home within the city.

At the time, former city Director of Development Jason Hester said the economic gain to the city would outweigh the program’s cost.

“The city receives about $992 per year in property and income taxes from an average household living in a $100,000 home,” he said in 2005. “The average household will spend over $33,000 per year in discretionary spending. Over five years, multiplied by just a dozen new households, that adds up to more than $2 million to our local economy.”

Sources tell us electrical engineers make up many of the 850 jobs associated with the Tipton County prospect. Many engineers at Delphi Electronics & Safety already commute from Hamilton County communities such as Carmel and Fishers.

McKillip’s innovative and inexpensive incentive program for homebuyers could encourage more professionals to make the Kokomo MSA their home.

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