The Elkhart City Common Council on July 9 held a special meeting to review and vote on a series of resolutions determining whether local businesses were in substantial compliance with their tax-abatement statement-of-benefits filings. The council approved findings of substantial compliance for the large majority of the companies listed in the meeting packet, after presentations from city staff and company representatives and focused discussion about job-creation metrics, gross wages and clawback provisions.

The measures matter because they determine whether firms continue to receive property- and personal-property tax deductions tied to economic-development agreements. Council members repeatedly referenced the council’s 90% compliance threshold and the memoranda of agreement (MOA) that define clawback formulas and measurement dates.

Economic development staff said the tax-abatement committee reviewed filings and recommended outcomes. Several companies sent representatives to answer questions about jobs, wages and investment; a handful of items produced detailed exchanges between council members and company controllers or CEOs about why job targets were missed and how the companies plan to return to compliance.

The longest discussion centered on American Technology Components (ATC), where the council debated whether to find the company noncompliant for job-creation targets or to accept its filings as substantially compliant for real and personal property. Council members pressed ATC officials about baseline years, industry downturns in the RV sector, and recently reported hiring. ATC’s controller, Jordan Hester, and founder Steve Haines told the council they have hired additional staff since filing and are bringing some tooling back from China to boost future hiring and wages. City staff provided reported figures: ATC’s SB-1 estimated gross wages were about $7.75 million and the CF-1 reported gross wages of about $8.559 million, which staff said represented roughly 110% of the SB-1 estimate for gross wages, while job-creation numbers lagged the original baseline.

Councilman David Reinke, Councilman Henke and others repeatedly noted the limits of the council’s options under the MOAs: there is no formal “partial compliance” classification, and the council can either find a company in compliance, find it not in compliance (triggering a follow-up hearing within 30 days), or ultimately terminate benefits in later action if warranted. City staff described the clawback formula as prescribed in each company’s MOA and said clawbacks would apply in cases of ceased operations or delinquent Elkhart County taxes.

Other company representatives described operational and market conditions that affected their reporting year. Jeff Martin, representing Concord Mall/Concorde (Resolution 25-R-27), said the property is about 75% leased and remains on track; staff noted Concord Mall remains within its final compliance date (December 31) and that clawbacks would apply only under specific conditions. Bennington Marine South (Resolution 25-R-26) reported creating six jobs by Dec. 31, 2024, and listed roughly 20 open positions; PlayCon Corporation (25-R-28) said it had 85 employees at reporting time with several temporary-to-hire positions and expected to grow; Treadit Tire (25-R-29) supplied follow-up payroll documentation that moved it over the 90% threshold on base wages after staff re-calculation.

Votes at a glance

- Resolution 25-R-27 (Concord Mall Business Park): Adopted (motion: adopt finding of substantial compliance for CF-1 real property). Roll call: Holt Aye; Brent Curry Yes; King Yes; Mishler Aye; Hines Yes; Crabtree Yes; Henke Aye; President Arvace L. Dawson Aye. Notes: company attended audio-only; council required video for full public-record participation but proceeded with staff Q&A.

- Resolution 25-R-25 (American Technology Components, ATC): Two motions. First motion (find NOT in compliance on job creation) failed (vote: Mishler Aye; Crabtree Aye; Henke Aye; Holt Nay; Brent Curry No; King No; Hines No; President Dawson No). Second motion (find in substantial compliance for real and personal property) passed (Holt Aye; Brent Curry Yes; King Yes; Mishler No; Hines Yes; Crabtree No; Henke No; President Dawson Aye). Notes: extended public and council questioning on jobs, wages and automation; MOA and phase-in years discussed.

- Resolution 25-R-26 (Bennington Marine South/Marine Realty LLC): Adopted (finding of substantial compliance for CF-1 real property). Roll call: Holt Aye; Brent Curry Yes; King Yes; Mishler Aye; Hines Yes; Crabtree Yes; Henke No; President Dawson Aye. Company reported six jobs created and ~20 open positions as of 12/31/2024.

- Resolution 25-R-28 (PlayCon Corporation): Adopted (finding of substantial compliance for real and personal property). Roll call: Holt Aye; Brent Curry Yes; King Yes; Mishler Aye; Hines Yes; Crabtree Yes; Henke No; President Dawson Aye. Company reported 85 employees at present with eight temporary-to-hire positions.

- Resolution 25-R-29 (Treadit Tire & Wheel Co.): Adopted (finding of substantial compliance for personal property). Roll call: Holt Aye; Brent Curry Yes; King Yes; Mishler Aye; Hines Yes; Crabtree Yes; Henke Aye; President Dawson Aye. Company submitted supplemental payroll documentation; staff recalculation showed compliance over the 90% base-wage threshold.

- Resolution 25-R-30 (PECF Enterprises d/b/a Triangle Rubber Company and 7 Guild LLC): Adopted (finding of substantial compliance for personal property). Roll call: Holt Aye; Brent Curry Yes; King Yes; Mishler Aye; Hines Yes; Crabtree Yes; Henke Aye; President Dawson Aye. Note: company’s real-property phase-in not yet assessed; this action reviewed personal property only.

- Resolutions 25-R-15, 25-R-16, 25-R-17, 25-R-18, 25-R-19, 25-R-20, 25-R-21, 25-R-22, 25-R-23, 25-R-24: Adopted as in substantial compliance (each vote recorded by roll call in the meeting transcript). Those resolutions concern Alliance RV LLC (R-15/R-16), Alpha Systems LLC/DVS LLC (R-17), EOZ Business LLC (R-18), Flexible Concepts Inc. (R-19), Hull Lift Truck Inc. (R-20), Kimcrest LLC/La Isla Bonita Properties LLC (R-21), Marson International LLC (R-22), Speed Grip Chuck Company (R-23), and a second Treadit Tire entry (R-24). Individual roll-call results and motion text are recorded in the minutes and in the transcript for each item.

Discussion vs. decision

Council actions were procedural decisions that either sustain a company's current abatement benefit for the reporting year or trigger the MOA-defined review process. When council members expressed concern about job shortfalls or reliance on bonuses to meet wage goals, staff and company representatives clarified that the council’s options are constrained by the MOA language and by how baseline years were reported on SB-1 filings. In several cases staff said the ERA (economic revitalization area) or phase-in year for real property or personal property extends multiple years into the future; for those companies job reporting continues to be measured annually through the indicated final year.

Why it matters going forward

Council members flagged precedent concerns: lowering the compliance bar, or repeatedly accepting explanations tied to national industry downturns, could affect future abatement oversight. Staff repeatedly urged reliance on each company’s MOA language for clawbacks and on the CF-1/SB-1 filings as the administrative record. Several companies cited reshoring of tooling, automation investments and diversification outside the RV industry as paths to future compliance.

The meeting was brief on other agenda items: the special meeting was convened specifically to hear these compliance resolutions and concluded after the listed votes. The council adjourned once business on all listed proposed resolutions was complete.