A confined hog feeding operation will be getting a tax break from Pulaski County. The county council voted six-to-one last week to grant a tax abatement for a facility being built by Derrick and Abbie Stalbaum in Rich Grove Township.
Derrick said he requested the abatement, after learning that the annual property tax bill would be almost double the state average for similar facilities and over five times more than what some others in the county are paying. “I believe in paying my fair share,” Stalbaum said. “I really do. I’m not here to get out of anything. But what I realize is, by looking at this and researching this, I don’t believe $31,200 is a fair share for something, when comparable pieces are a fraction of that.”
The abatement will phase in the property tax payment over 10 years, cutting the total payment over that time roughly in half. Stalbaum pointed out that, even with the abatement, it still appears to be more than what anyone else in Pulaski County is paying for a confined feeding operation.
During the public hearing, concerns were raised about the precedent this tax abatement might set, and if it would lead to an increase of requests from large businesses. Some people weren’t entirely comfortable with the idea of calling the farm property an “Economic Revitalization Area,” one of the requirements for abatement eligibility.
But Community Development Commission Executive Director Nathan Origer said the council has a lot of leeway, when it comes to real property abatements. “They are much more limited in what they can allow abatements on for personal property, but on the real property side, they are granted a lot of discretion, which is why they were able to do the same thing for the lettuce facility that the Putt family is building in Francesville,” Origer explained.
Stalbaum stressed that the abatement would be specifically on the new building and that he’ll continue to pay the full property taxes on the existing buildings.
Brian Young was the only council member to vote against the abatement. The property was rezoned to allow for the confined feeding operation’s construction earlier this year.
