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Weekly Wrap-up

A look at news and events in the Daniels Administration

Governor's Newsletter

September 4-9, 2007

Governor Announces Two New Companies 'In-Sourcing' Jobs to Indiana

Sept. 7, 2007- As Governor Mitch Daniels and a delegation of nearly 70 business and community leaders depart for a seven-day trade mission to Japan, the Indiana governor announced new results of the state's increased efforts to attract international investment to the Hoosier state.

In the days leading up to the Governor's third trade mission to Asia in three years, two Taiwanese companies announced they have chosen to locate or expand in Indiana, together creating more than 1,700 new jobs.

"We went to Taiwan in 2005 in search of jobs for Hoosiers," said Daniels. "The timing of these decisions is coincidental but they do provide more hard evidence that our international roadwork is a good investment of time and well worth the effort."

Taiwan-based FoxConn, a third-party provider of storage and assembly services for the computer industry, will make a multi-million investment to expand its Plainfield computer assembly facility, creating more than 1,400 new jobs.

ASUS, a Taiwan-based manufacturer of computer components and accessories, will also invest in Indiana, relocating their Louisville service and help desk operations to Jeffersonville and creating 300 new jobs.

Read the news release.

Governor opens window for homeowners to file for homestead deductions and credits

Sept. 5, 2007- Governor Mitch Daniels took action that will help more homeowners get property tax relief in 2008. The governor directed counties to accept homestead deduction and credit applications from now to October 15 for those who previously missed the filing deadline this year.

The standard homestead deduction reduces the taxable value of a home occupied by its owner by as much as $45,000 in 2008 while the homestead credit reduces the amount of taxes owed. The application for the homestead deduction and credit are filed with the county auditor.

"As I travel, I am meeting citizens who overlooked this deadline and are now facing the double whammy of a property tax increase without the protection of the homestead deduction and credit they are entitled to," said Daniels. "I've received bipartisan assurances from the legislative leadership that this extension will be ratified when they convene in November."

To be eligible for a homestead deduction in 2008, persons must be the owner of their primary residence as of March 1, 2007. The deadline to file for a homestead deduction and credit in 2007 was June 10. Those who filed by then need not do so again.

Read the news release.

Nestle to Locate New Water Bottling Facility in Greenwood

Sept. 4, 2007- Nestle Waters North America announced it will locate its new Nestle Pure Life brand water bottling operation here, creating more than 60 new jobs.

The company will invest more than $30 million to equip its new 215,000-square-foot high-speed bottling facility that when operational in 2008 will produce up to one million bottles of Nestle Pure Life and Nestle Pure Life Naturally Favored Water daily.

"Nestle is making an even bigger commitment to Indiana; the third in less than 14 months," said Governor Mitch Daniels. "The company has had a resounding response from Hoosiers who want to work at the new Anderson plant, and now, the company will be offering even more employment opportunities in Greenwood."

Located at 900 Commerce Parkway West Drive, the new facility will use water from the Indiana American Water Company to supply its two production lines. Water will undergo a multi-step purification process and will blend with minerals before bottling.

Read the news release.

New web features provide Hoosiers with access to local information

Sept. 4, 2007- Local property tax data and a map highlighting activities, announcements and grants in every Indiana county are two of the most popular features on the recently redesigned IN.gov - the state's official Web site. IN.gov's new design, navigation structure and unique features are part of an 18-month project to make the site a valuable, customer-friendly resource.

Recently added features include:

-"What's Happening in My County" is an easy-to-use map providing citizens with information about economic development projects, Majors Moves announcements, grant awards and Governor Daniels' visits in all 92 Indiana counties.

-The latest information about local government property taxes is available from www.in.gov/dlgf. The site includes a link to PropertyTax.IN.gov, which allows users to search property tax data in every county.

Read the news release.

Visit the Web site.

Daniels announces agreement to transfer ownership of Keystone Avenue

Sept. 6, 2007- Governor Mitch Daniels and Carmel Mayor James Brainard announced an agreement in principle for the City of Carmel to assume ownership of Keystone Avenue (State Road 431) from 96th Street to U.S. 31.

"Hamilton County will get a major transportation improvement sooner and the state's taxpayers save money in the long run," Daniels said. "Mayor Brainard has again shown the imagination that is making his a great new Hoosier city."

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) pegged the long-term costs of upgrading Keystone Avenue at more than $150 million. Tentative terms of the agreement call for INDOT to provide Carmel with $90 million, in installments, to reconstruct and redesign the road. Carmel's plan addresses long-term mainline traffic issues and significantly improves east-west mobility at a much lower cost. The agreement will not affect the funding for any of the state's Major Moves projects.

Read the news release.

IN THE NEWS

Indiana is 'Undisputed Juggernaut in Attracting Japanese Investment'

Midwest Business

Sept. 7, 2007

Michael Snyder

In these days of dried-up capital, try using the following three phrases in a complete sentence: Indiana, No. 1 position and foreign direct investment.

If you were parsing up a syllogism regarding Japan and the Hoosier state, you might be surprised to know that over the past few years the Midwest has played a dominant role in attracting fresh foreign direct investment (FDI). Perhaps more surprising, Indiana has led the Midwest in at least two critical categories: facilities (No. 1 in percent increase) and employees (No. 1).

As those who follow William Testa at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago know, the Midwest became a strong magnet for foreign investors in the first half of the millennium's new decade. While that at first may seem a bit like an economic oxymoron, consider the manufacturing prowess of the mid-America states and it begins to make sense.

When you consider that Indiana leads the nation in manufacturing operations, it becomes obvious why Honda, Toyota and Subaru operate major facilities throughout Hoosierland with more on deck. It also makes complete sense why Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels leaves on Friday to lead his third major trade foray into the prosperous land of the cherry blossoms.

Consider this fact from the Chicago Fed: Between 1995 and 2005, Indiana had a net gain of Japanese-owned facilities of 19 percent. During that same time period, Illinois had a net loss of Japanese-owned facilities to the tune of negative 22 percent.

Indiana a leader in segmented global FDI? This is not bad haiku poetry. With $9.3 billion presently in Japanese FDI and more coming, that's what the numbers show. It's no wonder then that about this time in 2006, Indianapolis was the home of the best-attended Midwest-U.S. Japan Association conference in history.

Now Gov. Daniels will return the favor and will travel to Tokyo in September with about 70 Hoosier business, government and education leaders to deliver an address at the Japanese version of the same conference.

According to Indiana Secretary of Commerce Nate Feltman (who will be traveling with the governor), the current trip includes meetings with key Japanese executives and calls on major corporations with ties already in the Hoosier state. Feltman says Indiana is the only U.S. state presently to have major plant operations from the "Big Three" of Japanese automakers.

While Indiana may not have a long-term perception as a global player, a quick look at a map highlighting current FDI and international involvement in Hoosierland will quickly dispel that particular falsehood. Why else would automation giant SMC of America (a major Japanese-based corporation) decide to set up its new U.S. headquarters just north of Indianapolis?

SMC officials announced on Aug. 30 that the company will build its largest U.S. facility. It will include its primary U.S. engineering, manufacturing and distribution operations in Noblesville, Ind. (just north of Indiana's capital city).

Since 2005, the Indiana Economic Development Corp. (IEDC) has landed 28 competitive deals with Japanese businesses and has secured $1.3 billion and 5,500 job commitments for the Hoosier state. In total, more than 42,000 people working in Indiana are directly employed by Japanese-owned businesses.

According to the IEDC, Daniels will pay a courtesy call to Masuda Manufacturing (the parent company of Tomasco Indiana), which began expanding its Winchester, Ind. operations last spring. He will also meet with officials from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. Its Mitsubishi Climate Control subsidiary operates a facility in Franklin, Ind.

The governor will travel to Nayoya, Japan shortly before concluding the one-week trip with a number of prospecting calls (including meetings at Aisin Seiki). He will also call on executives at TS Tech, which is a Honda supplier that is building a production facility in New Castle, Ind. (just west of Indianapolis).

Leaders - including executive director Theresa Kulczak of the Japan-America Society of Indiana (JASI) - will also participate in the trade mission and build additional relationships with new and existing contacts in Japan. Kulczak will lead the Indiana legislators and trade participants to Tochigi Prefecture to meet with Tochigi government representatives.

"As the governor and the state team up for another trade mission to Japan, the secret's no longer safe," said Pete Morse, an Indianapolis attorney and JASI board member. "Our state is an undisputed juggernaut in attracting Japanese investment."

Governor, commissioners have meeting

Property tax reform talk draws praise from Daniels and county officials.

South Bend Tribune

Sept. 6, 2007

James Wensits

A long-awaited meeting between Gov. Mitch Daniels and commissioners from six northern Indiana counties drew praise from both sides Wednesday but didn't result in any firm plans to reform property taxes.

"It went very well," Elkhart County Commissioner Mike Yoder said. "The governor was in general agreement with all our positions."

Those positions were embodied in a lengthy statement on suggested changes to the property tax structure that were hammered out by officials from the various counties during a series of meetings last month in Dunlap.

The commissioners had hoped to draw the governor to northern Indiana so the discussion could be held on their turf, but had to settle for a session in Daniels' Statehouse office because the governor's schedule has been tightened by preparations for an upcoming, trade-related visit to Japan.

St. Joseph County Commissioner Mark Dobson, R-1st, called the meeting "a good exchange of ideas and ideals" and said he came away thinking that the governor is more aligned with the coalition of commissioners than has previously been portrayed in the media. "I think we have work to do," said Marshall County Commissioner Kevin Overmyer, who said he also thought the meeting was positive.

In their position statement, the commissioners said they supported the removal of schools, welfare and juvenile detention costs from local budgets, making them state responsibilities.

The commissioners also indicated they would be willing to support increases in state corporate and personal income taxes, and in sales taxes to achieve a reduction in property taxes, but questioned the effectiveness of passing new local option income taxes to reduce property taxes.

Speaking to the media following the meeting, Daniels said there is a need to "sort out who pays for what," and acknowledged that he agrees with the "vast majority" of the points in the position statement.

The governor said he is open to any means of effecting a major reduction in property taxes, but said he is looking for features that would lock the reduction in place so it can't grow back. In a cautionary note, Daniels said proposals made by others to eliminate property taxes altogether raise questions not yet answered.

The governor said he doesn't want to repeat past experiences in which state tax increases were passed to reduce property taxes, only to have property taxes creep back up.

The governor said he would not support any state tax increase unless it led to an equal or better decrease in property taxes.

Daniels has been an advocate of legislation passed this year that authorizes local governments to pass local option income taxes and use that revenue to reduce property taxes.

The governor stressed, however, that use of the tax, as implied by its name, is optional. "It's utterly up to them." According to both Dobson and Yoder, the governor told the commissioners that he will make property tax reform a priority in the upcoming General Assembly session.

"I haven't heard any legislator say that," said Yoder. Both commissioners said they plan to discuss the issue with their respective delegations to the General Assembly.

Overmyer agreed that there is a need to discuss the issue with legislators as well as the governor because "he can't make the decision by himself."

One issue that has been raised by the commissioners but didn't surface Wednesday was the lack of local government membership on the bipartisan commission appointed by the governor to look into ways to streamline local governments.

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