FORT WAYNE – The National Weather Service in northern Indiana says northeast Indiana and northwest Ohio are likely to see more record-breaking heat on Monday.The Huntertown Town Council will decide next month whether to approve a tax break for a manufacturer whose owner says business has grown from a local distributorship to a national one.
Council members agreed Monday to designate the Parco Inc. property at 16335 Lima Road as an economic revitalization area, a preliminary step for tax abatement. A public hearing will be Feb. 21.
Tax abatement is a way local government can entice new businesses or retain existing jobs and exempts all or a portion of a company’s increased assessed value on new investment from property taxes.
The proposed three-year abatement is for new equipment needed to accommodate the company’s growth, said Phillip Roser, Parco’s president.
The investment of $184,250 will bring four new jobs with an estimated $163,000 in annual salaries, said Nicole Liter, an Allen County economic development specialist. The company will realize a tax savings of about $4,300, Liter said, although that could run higher because the new 2012 rates are not yet available, and the figure is based on the 2011 rates.
Roser said his company has already hired two new employees in the last week, adding to the current staff of 13. Salaries for the new positions range from $22,000 to $45,000 and include jobs in customer service, production work and management.
“We have seen our business grow from a local to a national distributorship,” Roser said.
Parco Inc. manufactures and distributes T-slotted aluminum extrusions such as stairs, platforms, safety guarding; material handling racks and climate control enclosures for manufacturing, automotive and medical industries.
