Noblesville council weighing 10-year tax phase-in for SMC

Fast-growing SMC Corp. of America plans to spend $6.1 million on equipment to expand production and distribution capacities at its North American headquarters in Noblesville.

The city’s Common Council this week unanimously approved a request to gradually collect personal property taxes on the equipment, saving SMC nearly $400,000 over 10 years. (Update: Council unanimously approved the tax break on Aug. 13.)

SMC employs about 680 at its sprawling Noblesville operation and has promised to add almost 100 positions there by 2017. (The average salary, according to the abatement request: $48,250.)

The company, which makes pneumatic and electric automation equipment, had 460 workers when it relocated to Noblesville’s Corporate Campus in 2008. It has invested over $67 million at the site since then, said city economic development chief Judi Johnson.

Last year, the city approved a 10-year tax phase-in for an expansion that brought the size of SMC’s facility to nearly 1.5 million square feet.

Although the current abatement request doesn’t include a jobs pledge, Johnson is encouraged by the company’s continued investment in Noblesville—not to mention outside recognition like its recent ranking by Forbes magazine as one of the 50 most-innovative companies in the world.

“The promise of future growth is there,” she said.

If the abatement goes through as expected, SMC plans to install the new equipment over the next 18 months.