Wichita City Council OKs tax exemption for aviation parts maker
June 14--A longtime Wichita aerospace subcontractor's downtown expansion plans got a boost Tuesday when the Wichita City Council approved its tax exemption request.
Council members voted 6-0, with James Clendenin absent, for a 10-year 100 percent tax exemption for McGinty Machine Co., a builder of aviation parts since 1948.
To grow its manufacturing space by 50 percent, McGinty plans to purchase the former Big Dog Motorcycle building on the northwest corner of Douglas and Hydraulic, allowing it to expand into 22,000 square feet of new space. The move is expected to retain 28 jobs and add 30 more over the next five years.
Plans call for a new sheet metal operation producing brake parts, Hydro form parts and shear materials, along with the space to build CNC router parts and small- to medium-sized assemblies.
The tax exemption is for five years, with review of another five years at the completion of the first term, a standard city economic development incentive.
"What a perfect time to expand," council member Lavonta Williams said, referencing Monday's news that NetJets is spending $9.6 billion on Cessna and Bombardier jets.
The vote required a policy shift by the council, which usually requires existing buildings to be out of service for at least three years to qualify for a tax exemption.
However, city staff recommended that requirement be waived because McGinty's business is part of a "target industry for economic development incentives and reuse of the building is considered unlikely in the near future," city documents indicate.
The council is expected to consider revisions to its incentive policy in the future, which will include the target industry basis for waiving vacancy requirements to abate taxes in existing buildings.
Reach Bill Wilson at 316-268-6290 or [email protected].
Copyright 2012 - The Wichita Eagle, Kan.