Two tax breaks were approved for an expansion of the Sonoco Flexible Packaging, Inc. facility north of Edinburgh.
Because the company is located in unincorporated Johnson County, the abatement was approved by the Johnson County Council. Real and personal property abatements with seven year terms were approved for the company at the council’s Monday meeting.
The company, located at 6502 S. U.S. 31 North, Edinburgh, plans to invest $2.1 million to redevelop to build a 25,000 square foot addition to the existing manufacturing facility. To outfit that new addition, the company plans to buy $12.9 million in new manufacturing equipment, according to the county documents.
The expansion will retain 15 existing jobs in Johnson County and create eight new jobs, county documents say.
According to an estimate compiled for the tax abatement application, the real property abatement will save more than $125,600, while the company pays more than $222,400 in taxes over the life of the abatement.
An exact estimate of personal property abatement savings is not available because county officials determined that one piece of equipment the company had applied for does not qualify for a tax abatement under state law, said Shena Johnson, county attorney.
Under the original request, the company would have saved more than $302,600 and paid more than $487,300 in taxes, the application shows. The actual savings and taxes paid will be lower with the omission of that piece of equipment.
The approval for both abatements were made following a public hearing where no member of the public made a comment.
Sonoco Flexible Packaging – Edinburgh is part of the Sonoco Product Company, a 100-year-old worldwide packaging manufacturer with 300 facilities in 34 countries. The company has three other locations across Indiana: in Indianapolis, Akron and Portland. The company makes packaging for a wide variety of consumer products brands and industries that serve 95 countries, according to the company’s website.
