Closure cuts tax revenue in Wauseon

12/13/2006

WAUSEON - The city of Wauseon will lose $50,000 to $60,000 a year in income tax collections from employees of Blue Water Automotive Systems Inc., which has announced it will close its plant in the city on Jan. 31, furloughing about 140 workers.

That loss amounts to about 2 percent of the city's income tax revenue, which has been about $3 million in recent years, said Jon Schamp, city finance director. This year he predicts total city income tax revenues at $3.2 million.

The city collects 1.5 percent of wages of people working inside the city limits, no matter where they reside.

Blue Water announced late last month that the Wauseon plant, which produces plastic car parts for major auto manufacturers, is one of three Blue Water plants slated for closing. The others are in Lexington, Mich., and Saint Clair, Mich.

Blue Water, of Marysville, Mich., took over the Wauseon factory last May with the purchase of Injectronics Inc.