By BOB SHRALUKA
WZBD.com
The Decatur business which was the subject of a lengthy – and, occasionally nasty – controversy some three years ago is rolling along quite successfully these days.
I-O Properties, an umbrella corporation under which The Country Butcher operates a beef processing facility in Industrial Park, has added many jobs at good wages, city council was told at its meeting Tuesday night.
Plant manager and co-owner Riggs Florence was on hand, along with Adams County Economic Development Director Colton Bickel, to hear council review two 10-year tax abatements the firm was afforded by council in June of 2023.
Businesses in Indiana which receive tax abatements annually must file a CF-1 form, demonstrating how they have lived up to the pledges made in order to obtain the abatement(s).
At the time it was awarded two abatements, I-O had 103 employees; today, according to Florence, it has 144 employees – and is figuring to get up to 200 by the end of the year.
Sales have doubled in that time, Florence said, and now annually top the $200 million mark.
Councilman Matt Dyer pointed out that the facility is paying a utility bill of approximately $2,500 a month – $300,000 a year – to the City of Decatur.
The I-O abatements are on a sliding scale. I-O will pay no taxes the first year, then 90% of its tax bill the second year, 80% the third, etc., until the abatements will provide tax savings of only 10% the final year.
The processing facility, which operates in the plant once occupied by Dean Foods, was the subject of considerable opposition when it first approached the city about opening the business.
As opposition mounted – including protesters carrying signs near city Hall – two city council meetings had to be moved out of City Hall to Riverside Center to accommodate large crowds.
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