La Porte council rescinds Microsoft taxpayer agreement, councilors say deal will be restructured

The La Porte Common Council on March 2 approved a resolution rescinding a taxpayer agreement with Microsoft that had included a personal‑property tax abatement and related incentive provisions.

Bert Cook, executive director of the La Porte Economic Advancement Partnership, told the council the rescission is intended to replace the earlier incentives with a new arrangement that the city, redevelopment commission and school corporation will finalize in follow‑up meetings. "Tonight, we're asking you to pass the resolution ... that will effectively in its simplest form, do away with their incentives here locally," Cook said during the meeting.

Council President Frankie (first reference to the body as "the common council") read the resolution and summarized its effect: it approves rescission of the taxpayer agreement, terminates the tax abatement authorized in the prior agreement, and authorizes the mayor and clerk‑treasurer to execute any documents necessary to implement the change.

Cook and councilors addressed public confusion about what had been abated. "The real property here that Microsoft was never given any incentive on the real property," Cook said, adding that the previously agreed abatement applied to certain personal property. Cook also said the project included a PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) arrangement in which a portion of savings could have flowed to the city and schools under the original agreement.

On the topic of utility costs, Cook said the project structure and NIPSCO's Genco subsidiary are intended to keep those costs separate from existing residential ratepayers and that Microsoft would cover costs associated with its large electric load. "Genco is the subsidiary of NIPSCO that has been formed to house all large load electric users, which includes data center projects," Cook said. "Microsoft would be paying for those the costs associated with the electricity that they would ultimately use, both on the generation and the transmission side." The council did not request or adopt detailed new tariffs at the meeting.

Mayor noted support for the resulting local partnership with the La Porte Community School Corporation and praised school leadership present at the meeting. Several council members expressed optimism about the municipality's future with the project.

The council approved the resolution by voice vote. Cook said additional actions by the Board of Works, Redevelopment Commission and the school board were scheduled the following morning to implement the new arrangement.

Next steps: the council's resolution authorizes city officials to execute documents and to coordinate the follow‑up meetings; those subsequent meetings will determine the final structure of the local agreement and how incentives are reallocated or removed.