The Lake County Council approved an economic revitalization area for John Deere Thursday during a special meeting, during which eight members of the public spoke to voice overall support but also some concerns. John Deere plans to invest $125 million to open a 1.2 million square-foot distribution ce nter on 234 acres of land southwest of Interstate 65 and Ind. 2 near the Lowell-Hebron area, according to a press release from the Lake County Council. The distribution center will bring in $7.2 million in new property tax revenue to Lake County over the 10-year tax abatement period, said Matt Reardon, with MCR Partners LLC, an economic development consultant. John Deere will pay a development fee of $435,000 to be used for further economic development in the area. Lake County will offer up to $1.25 million in personal property tax abatement and $4.56 million in real property tax abatement over 7 years, according to the press release. The Indiana Economic Development Corporation also agreed to offer up to $2,500,000 in incentive-based tax credits for the project. The project is expected to generate 150 jobs, which means the company will pay $9.7 million in wages from which the county will receive income tax revenue, Reardon said. The company has agreed to project labor agreements with the building trades, he said. John Deere representative Jen Hartmann said an exact timeline is not available, but the facility will likely take a year to complete. Hiring details will also be announced at a later date. Justin Galante, with Venture One Real Estate working on the project, said John Deere participated in a multi-state search for a new distribution center. Lake County stood out because of the labor, trades and incentives opportunities, he said. “We’re working through approval with the state and looking forward to breaking ground in the spring,” Galante said. Eight people addressed the council during the public hearing portion of the meeting. Tri-Creek School Corporation Superintendent Andy Anderson said he would like to see the school district be part of a structured tax benefit of the economic revitalization area. Local property taxes pay for school buildings, maintenance, repairs, heating, cooling, lighting, cyber security and buses, among other things, Anderson said. Under Senate Enrolled Act 1, which was passed in the 2025 legislative session, Tri-Creek School Corporation will lose $1.8 million this year because of a circuit breaker imposed on property taxes, Anderson said. The state capped the maximum amount of the school levy, which impacted funds, he said. Further, the state has limited when schools could hold referendums and how the ballot quefstion could be written, Anderson said. The state also allowed for residential tax increment financing districts, which has resulted in Lowell capturing property taxes from nine new subdivisions that the school district hasn’t benefited from, he said. “The state has taken away a large degree of local control of government in Indiana,” Anderson said. “Public schools have been hung out to dry.” While the county will also start seeing impacts from SEA 1, which will decrease property tax funding for schools and other taxing units, Anderson said residential TIFs are the district’s second cut in revenue. The district won’t be able to make payroll within the next four years, he said. “I respectfully ask for you to use your local control to make school-friendly decisions,” Anderson said. Lowell Fire Chief Chris Gamblin said fire service is the responsibility of the township or towns and cities. As more development comes to Eagle Creek Township, Gamblin said the increase in fire service, including personnel and equipment, will be “shouldered by” the township trustee, he said. “While no money is coming out of the system and the tax base, the very buildings and the very things that are going out there exceed our ability to protect,” Gamblin said. While John Deere is welcome in the area, West Creek Township Trustee Heidi Laub said townships and schools have a difficult time budgeting as tax increment financing districts and tax abatements are created. Cedar Creek Township Trustee Alice Dahl said townships are in need because of the property tax cuts made at the state level. “We’re going to come to you and ask you guys to help us because we can’t afford to pay the ambulance. We can’t afford to pay the fire department,” Dahl said. “What we’re trying to get across to everybody is that we need money.” Lake County Councilman Randy Niemeyer, R-7th, said a structured economic development agreement gives the county “cash up front to work with.” Over the course of the 10-year tax abatement, the tax rate will be lowered incrementally, he said. The assessed value of homes and businesses could grow in an area, but the state will only give counties 3% of the growth financing because of the maximum levy growth quotient, Niemeyer said. “The idea that somehow a structure like this is going to steal money from other units is just false. That’s not how a rate-based system works in the state of Indiana,” Niemeyer said. “This won’t take anything away from any school system, any government unit. All it’s doing is limiting the assessed value growth over the first few years of it.” The way to address the concerns of local officials is through working with development partners, Niemeyer said. When the assessed value reenters the tax system, it lowers the tax burden and allows a city or town to issue bonds for projects, he said. “There is no undoing the damage of SEA 1. It has created a loss of growth for every taxing unit,” Niemeyer said. “If we do this right, we can buoy some of those needs, we can relieve that pressure. Then once all of that taxable assessed value hits the system, while we won’t realize that much more in tax collection, it’ll be spread out over more units so that will lower the amount per unit that’s paid.” Randy Palmateer, business manager of the Northwestern Indiana Building and Construction Trades Council, said he supports the project and the project labor agreement that comes with it. Nick Pollock, with the Carpenters Local 1485, said he appreciated that local carpenters were included in the project. To address Anderson’s concerns, Pollock said students learning about construction and technology could learn from the project. “The more community members that we get on these construction projects the more we’re able to give back to our communities,” Pollock said. “We want to use local labor to keep the money in our communities.” The council voted 5-0 to approve a resolution for the economic revitalization area, real property tax deductions and personal property tax deductions. “With that, I’d like to welcome John Deere to our community,” said Lake County Council President Christine Cid, D-5th. Freelance reporter Anna Ortiz contributed to this report.  [email protected] ...read more read less