Wichita City Council members this morning put off a move indefinitely to give an accounting outsourcing firm a $22,000-a-year property tax abatement for its nearly completed expansion.
The industrial revenue bonds that Michelle Becker Inc., the real-estate holding company for Profit Builders Inc., sought typically are given to companies that either couldn’t expand without the tax breaks or would otherwise move out of the city.
Since Profit Builders Inc.’s west-side expansion is already about 90 percent complete and the company is obviously poised to stay here, council members said they couldn’t justify giving economic incentives.
The city doesn’t have a policy that addresses giving tax breaks to businesses that have already begun construction on expansions. Now council members are asking City Manager Robert Layton and Director of Urban Development Allen Bell to craft a rule that addresses that.
Profit Builders, located at 7325 W. 33rd St. North, is run by former Pizza Hut executives Michelle Becker and Sam Oglesby. They didn’t speak during the council’s discussion. The company specializes in providing outsource accounting services to restaurants, construction companies and small businesses.
The company’s expansion will add 29 jobs.
Council members said they wanted to find some way to help the company, but they acknowledged that it has proven it doesn’t need government assistance.
“We have given IRBs to companies that probably didn’t need our help,” Council member Sue Schlapp said. She said she could name several, but she did not name any during the meeting.
But she said she couldn’t support this move since it could set a precedent for other companies that have completed or partially-completed expansions to seek incentives.
Council member Jeff Longwell appeared to be the only one in favor of the incentives. He said he takes some of the blame for not helping the company before it began its expansion. He urged council members to consider that the company draws 70 percent of its revenue from outside of Kansas and appears poised to grow in the future.
“I just hate seeing us penalize an emerging company that has so many things to offer our community,” he said.
Vice Mayor Jim Skelton said local governments struggle with whether to grant incentives since it takes property off the tax rolls that help pay for services. But, he said, other cities are doing more and more to lure businesses away and the city has to compete.
“If nobody else did it, we’d return to that level playing field,” he said.