Funding economic development gets creative in Hancock, Greenfield

Revenue-generating practice saves governments money while reinvesting in economies

In a place growing as fast as Hancock County, it’s imperative for thoughtful, strategic economic development to keep up.

That requires money, of course, and in Hancock County leaders have found a way to generate it that keeps funding local for economic development while reducing the amount needed from taxpayers.

Randy Sorrell became the Executive Director of the Hancock Economic Development Council in 2019 after serving on its Board of Directors for 20 years and its Executive Committee for over 15. When he took the helm, HEDC had been a two-person staff since 2007. Knowing the organization needed to grow as the county did, he commissioned a strategic plan, which advised expanding the staff to four.

While business attraction, retention, and expansion may quickly come to mind when thinking of economic development, it’s also about initiatives that help achieve those goals like quality of life and quality of place, prompting the need for a Community Development Manager. Additionally, economic developers are so busy doing their jobs that they have little time to tell their stories, highlighting the strategic plan’s recommendation for a Communications Director.

At that time, the HEDC had always been funded by its members. And while its membership has been growing over the decades, it wasn’t enough to support these investments in economic development in Hancock County. As Sorrell searched for ways to generate more revenue, he discovered a little-known practice outlined in Indiana Code allowing economic development organizations to receive fees from companies awarded tax abatement.

Tax abatement is an incentive tool communities use to be competitive in attracting business growth. It applies a deduction to the assessed value of a property improvement and gradually phases in the amount of taxes owed for that property improvement over a period of time.

The revenue-generating practice Sorrell discovered determines the additional amount of property taxes that would have been paid during the year if an abatement were not in effect. That figure is multiplied by a percentage determined by local government officials up to 15%. That amount or $100,000–whichever is less–makes up the fee a property owner must pay to what the law describes as nonprofit entities established to promote economic development within the corporate limits of the government officials setting the measure. The measure must have the consent of the property owner to take effect.

Sorrell first proposed it to the Hancock County Council, which adopted the fee in 2020 at an amount of 5%. Greenfield City Council adopted it in 2024, also at 5%.

The Indiana Economic Development Association invited Sorrell to speak on the subject at the organization’s 2025 Summer Conference earlier this month in Indianapolis. He joined Amanda Rubadue, Vice President of Economic Development for Aspire Johnson County, which also utilizes the funding mechanism, for a conversation moderated by Evansville Regional Economic Partnership Economic Development Director Patrick Hickey.

For the first few years, funds the HEDC has received from tax abatement fees have been applied to salaries and benefits to support the human capital called for in the strategic plan. In 2024, the organization began contributing such funds to help back local economic analyses like the one studying the State Road 9 Corridor north of Greenfield and the one determining what kinds of retail the county lacks while providing data developers will need to fill those gaps.

“We’re putting those dollars back into studies for future growth and development,” Sorrell said.

Another purpose identified for the fees aims to give local leaders more control over the area’s destiny. The John Hancock Community Development Corporation was formed several years ago and as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization it can own real estate officials may want to protect.

“I can tell the winds are blowing, that they're going to want to start finding vulnerable property or get land under contract, get it optioned so we can turn the ship and stop reacting–and start creating,” Sorrell said.

The tax abatement fee policy also helped make Hancock County’s participation possible in a state grant program. The John Hancock Community Development Corporation was the only local eligible entity able to receive funds from the first iteration of Indiana’s Regional Economic Acceleration and Development Initiative, or READI. Hancock County’s READI 1 award included $1.4 million for the purchase of land for the Amplify Hancock Innovation Center, a vocational training facility under construction. READI awards require a local match, and part of the one for Amplify’s land came from tax abatement fees transferred to the community development corporation.

This tax abatement fee policy has been appealing for Hancock County leaders in particular because much of the abated development in recent years has needed land to be rezoned from agricultural to industrial and therefore taxed higher, resulting in more money for the government even with abatement than when the site was a farm field.

Additionally, Hancock County’s and Greenfield’s governments formerly paid the HEDC above and beyond what their memberships required in order to help the organization meet its needs. With the HEDC now getting funding from tax abatement fees, the city and county are able to keep those supplements and apply them in other ways to serve their constituents.

“We’ve saved them money for budgets,” Sorrell said.

Greenfield City Councilman Dan Riley and Hancock County Councilman Jim Shelby agree.

“Having those who benefit from abatements help support economic development directly while receiving abatements is a great way to gain support for future development projects including business retention and expansion,” Riley said.

Sorrell reported he has received no pushback from developers on paying the tax abatement fee, noting they’re still ultimately realizing 95% of their tax abatement. 

Matt Brauer, an HEDC Executive Officer and Partner with The Peterson Company, an Indianapolis-based general contractor that has built multiple large buildings in Hancock County, called tax abatement an important tool that allows the company's developer clients to deliver competitive, high-quality projects while passing meaningful cost savings to the end users. 

“This incentive helps attract top companies to their buildings, generating jobs, investment, and long-term tax revenue that strengthen the local economy,” Brauer said. “Hancock County is striking the right balance by ensuring economic development thrives, which in turn supports a thriving community, while very importantly preserving tax abatement as a tool developers can use to attract great companies.”

Developers also see the tax abatement fee for the HEDC as an investment in local economic development, Sorrell said, adding it seems to hardly be a reason to turn away from the proximity that western Hancock County provides to I-70 and central Indiana’s robust highway network.

“I think they think we’re doing a good job,” Sorrell said. “We advocate for them and they want to take care of us. They join our organization, they pay dues, they show up at our events. I just think that they see the value in it.”

Pictured above: HEDC Executive Director Randy Sorrell, center, with Aspire Johnson County Vice President of Economic Development Amanda Rubadue and Evansville Regional Economic Partnership Economic Development Director Patrick Hickey.

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