PERRY COUNTY, Ind. — The Perry County Council on Thursday unanimously adopted two declaratory resolutions preliminarily approving real- and personal-property tax abatements for WebWell Products Inc., moving the request to a public hearing scheduled for Oct. 23 at the council’s regular meeting.

Jonathan (staff member) told the council the proposed expansion would add roughly 200,000 square feet of assembly and manufacturing space and represent about $57,000,000 in total investment, of which roughly $15,000,000 would be real property and $42,000,000 personal property. He said WebWell will retain about 92 existing employees and add about 28 more as the project phases in construction and equipment installation.

The declaratory resolutions are the initial step in Indiana’s tax-abatement process; if the council confirms the declarations after a public hearing, the final abatement schedule and any conditions would be set at the confirmatory stage. Jonathan said depreciation schedules for personal property are not finalized and that the applicant is working through required calculations. He also said the applicant considered two other locations before selecting Perry County.

Why it matters: The council’s preliminary approval clears the way for formal public notice and the Oct. 23 hearing, where taxing units and members of the public can comment before the council takes a final vote. The abatements, if ultimately granted on the schedule presented, would reduce county property taxes collected in the short term in exchange for the company’s stated capital investment and job commitments.

Details presented and discussion

- Investment and timeline: Jonathan said construction is anticipated to start in January 2026, with building completion in December 2027 and full real-property completion in 2029 as the project phases in.

- Jobs: The presenter said WebWell would retain ‘‘approximately 92’’ current workers and add ‘‘an additional 28’’ during the project.

- Abatement schedule examples: The illustrative schedule for real property showed a 10-year phase-in with 100% abated in year one, 95% in year two, 80% in year three, tapering to 5% in year 10, after which the property would be taxed at full rate. Using current tax rates and the $15,000,000 assumed value, the presentation estimated about $1,322,000 in real-property taxes collected over 10 years under the abatement schedule vs. roughly $2,600,000 without abatement (a net difference of about $1,290,000). Jonathan cautioned depreciation was not yet applied to those figures.

- Personal property: The illustrative personal-property schedule, also shown for 10 years, produced about $3,700,000 in property taxes under the abatement versus about $7,300,000 without it (a net difference of about $3,600,000). The presenter said prior estimates had shown higher personal-property investment but that vendor pricing reduced the estimate to the $42,000,000 figure.

- Local commitments and conditions: Jonathan said the Perry County Redevelopment Commission preliminarily committed about $200,000 toward on-site water and sewer improvements; that action is scheduled for the Redevelopment Commission meeting Oct. 6. He said any local funding would be structured with reimbursement or invoicing requirements so dollars are paid for completed work. He also said the county will require annual CF-1 certification from the applicant and that the county will include callback provisions in any abatement agreement if investment or job commitments are not met.

Actions taken

- Resolution designating a portion of Perry County as an economic revitalization area and preliminarily approving real-property tax abatement for WebWell Products Inc.: motion by David (council member), second by Stan (council member); motion passed 6–0.

- Resolution designating a portion of Perry County as an economic revitalization area and preliminarily approving personal-property tax abatement for WebWell Products Inc.: motion by Brad (council member), second by Gail (council member); motion passed 6–0.

Process next steps

Jonathan said the county will send required notice to all taxing units and place a legal notice in the newspaper to advertise the Oct. 23 public hearing. The applicant and county staff will attend that meeting to answer questions. The council can then confirm, amend and confirm, or rescind the declaratory resolutions based on the hearing.

Quotes in the meeting were limited to presenters and motions; the presenter told the council the company ‘‘chose Perry County, to to make this investment.’’