What happened

The mayor told council the Terre Haute Economic Development Corporation no longer defaults to recommending a flat 10-year, 0% tax abatement for every project, and now uses a scoring process before bringing recommendations to council. He previewed "Project Holly," a commercial and industrial machinery company weighing Terre Haute against seven other communities for a project involving $30 to $50 million in equipment, 25 to 35 jobs, and an average wage of $31.64 an hour — figures the company itself has not yet finalized.

Who it affects

It affects taxpayers who would absorb any abatement council eventually grants, since Project Holly and any incentive request tied to it is expected to come before this same council in the coming months.

The outcome

No abatement was voted on tonight; this was a briefing on the EDC's process and an early look at a project still being evaluated.

Sources

• Briefing framing, 70:37
• Project Holly details, 70:49
• EDC moves away from automatic abatements, 71:20
• Coming to council in coming months, 71:52

Also known as: Terre Haute EDC · Project Holly · business retention and expansion · BR&E · tax abatement scoring criteria