A truck is parked at Umbarger Show Feeds’ Franklin mill ready to be loaded with feed for livestock on Wednesday.
Leeann Doerflein | Daily Journal
Umbarger Show Feeds is planning a $3.8 million investment at the company’s Franklin mill.
The 85-year-old company had been in Bargersville for the first 83 years of operations but built a new mill in Franklin in 2020 after its operations outgrew the landlocked site in downtown Bargersville.
The Johnson County Council on Monday approved a personal property tax abatement for Roy Umbarger & Sons, Inc. to expand the Franklin mill again. The mill is located just outside Franklin city limits at 186 S. County Road 600 East.
The investment will bring new equipment that will increase feed production by about 30%. Three or four new employees are expected to be hired at a wage of approximately $28 per hour, according to the company’s tax abatement application.
The new investment builds on the 2020 investment in the Franklin mill. Company president Marty Umbarger thanked the council for the 2018 tax abatement that helped jump-start the company’s expansion.
“We were able to modernize our mill and move it to a Franklin. Our desire and our hope was that we would fill the capacity of that in four to five years. Here it is four years down the road, and we have met our capacity, and we have opportunities to manufacture more feeds and different products,” Umbarger said.
The new investment will help the company grow even more in unincorporated Franklin. Some of the equipment will include a pellet mill, ingredient bins and load out bins, Umbarger told the council.
The abatement first came before the council at their September meeting, but was delayed to October to iron out the terms of the abatement. The request was initially for 10 years, but the company agreed to seven years after negotiating with county council member John Ditmars.
He asked for the seven-year abatement period based on his past experience with the Franklin Economic Development Commission, which is the city’s tax abatement advisory board. Generally, the EDC favors shorter terms for personal property abatements and only grants longer abatements in limited circumstances.
“I had a steadfast philosophy that personal property probably had an economic life to it that warranted three, five or seven years, depending on the scope of the project. Real property, of course, would be eligible for the 10,” Ditmars said at the Sept. 9 council meeting.
With a seven-year term, the company will still pay an estimated $78,504 in taxes, while saving $143,462, according to a tax estimate prepared for the abatement.
The company’s existing 10-year real property abatement on the building took effect in 2021, with the company gradually paying more and more taxes to the county. Once the period is over, full taxes will be paid for the life of the structure.
Several council members expressed their support for the project and said they appreciated the company’s continued investment in Johnson County.
The abatement was approved unanimously in a 6-0 vote among the members present Monday. Council member Melinda Griesemer was absent.
