The Greenwood City Center is seen in this May 2022 photo.
Daily Journal File Photo
A distribution company is asking the Greenwood City Council to implement a tax break first approved in 2019, which did not begin due to a failure to file a form.
The nine-member council is considering a resolution that would waive the noncompliance of CPF Greenwood Associates LLC for its failure to timely file its application for deduction from the assessed valuation of structures in an economic revitalization area, implementing their 10-year, approximately $10.6-million tax abatement for real property. The resolution was introduced on April 1, and passed through first reading in a 6-2 vote, with one member absent, Monday night. Council members Michael Williams and David Hopper voted against.
In 2019, there was an $20 million project at 1379 Collins Road, located inside a large industrial park, Caroline Hines, a representative of CPF, told the council on April 1. CPF was not the entity that asked for the real property abatement, which was GLA Properties. At the time of GLA’s application, the company asked for both real property — real estate — and personal property — equipment — tax abatements, which were approved by the city council in October 2019, according to city documents.
CPF purchased the land from GLA Properties in September 2020 and leased it to Quality Custom Distribution Services Inc. in 2021. CPF also made about $10.6 million in improvements to the property in 2021, with an assessed value of $7.8 million, city documents show.
However, the state form for real estate deductions required to be filed to receive the benefits, referred to as a CF-1, was not filed in 2021. Now CPF’s tenant wants to receive its real property tax break, with 2024 considered the first year of the tax break. They also filed the form last year to get benefits for 2024, city documents say.
Although the real property form wasn’t filed during that time period, the CF-1s for the five-year, $8 million personal property tax break was. Filing the real property form got lost during the transfer of ownership of the real estate property, Hines said.
The company has also met the investment and job numbers they said they would on the application, Hines said
During Monday’s public hearing and first vote on the request, council member David Hopper questioned CPF on the need to have the real property abatement put into effect now. To him, it seems as though Quality Custom Distribution, CPF’s tenant, hasn’t needed it for two years, Hopper said.
Tyler Aniol, a CPF representative, said Quality Custom Distribution had called them saying they weren’t getting the benefit of the tax break. They asked CPF for help rectifying the situation, Aniol said.
“They do want the benefit,” Aniol said.
Quality Custom Distribution is outperforming on the jobs requirement, employing 140 when the initial application had an expected 99 new jobs, she said.
Another issue for Hopper was that the abatement would restart at Year 1 if they approved the resolution as is. He thought it should start at Year 2 or 3 instead, he said.
Council member Mike Williams asked if Hopper would make a motion to amend the resolution to do so.
He declined.
