MOUNT VERNON — City Auditor Terry Scott told city council members on Monday night it has been difficult and challenging to determine the financial effect Siemens closing will have on the city.
Scott said the loss from the workforce will be around $650,000 in 2019. On the business side, he anticipates a loss of between $350,000 to $400,000. “So for a short, round number, a million dollars is what we project would be the impact overall,” he said.
Scott said he cannot project what the loss might be for 2018 because it is not known when the employees will actually leave.
Of the 400-plus employees still working, Mayor Richard Mavis said 137 are Mount Vernon residents. “They don’t have any type of schedule related to laying off of workers, and they won’t have that for awhile because some people have the opportunity to relocate, there will be some people who will buy out, and there will be some people without a job,” he said.
The city’s water and wastewater utility will also feel the effects of Siemens’ closing. Matthias Orndorff, utility director, said that in 2017, Siemens paid $180,000 to the city. “Overall, about 2 percent of the revenue was coming from Siemens,” he said. “It was 2.7 percent for water and 1.4 percent was wastewater.”
“So that’s an additional loss,” said Mavis.
In addition to the loss of revenue and the effect on families and children, the plant’s closing will affect local school systems.
For the Knox County Career Center, the loss is around $2,500 a year. Treasurer Tracy Elliott told KnoxPages.com that Siemens normally makes the payment on Jan. 15.
“We are in some talks with them about getting the current payment,” she said, adding that she did not attribute the delay to any fault on the part of Siemens. “We previously received a flat amount per year, but we agreed that a more fair assessment each year would be based on current value.”
Elliott said that Jeff Harris of the Area Development Foundation is helping the school determine the current value.
“From a financial standpoint, we receive $43,000 a year from several abatements from the property, which we certainly appreciate and use,” Mount Vernon schools Superintendent William Seder told KnoxPages.com on Tuesday. “But that pales in comparison to the loss of families. While there certainly are finite consequences in terms of dollar amounts, more important for me and the district is the impact it has on the schools with families being uprooted. It’s a great loss to us as a community, the loss of those kinds of resources. Our hearts go out to them.”
Like the career center, the Mount Vernon School District has not yet received payment for 2018. “Although we’ve not received it yet, we are certain they are going to treat us fairly,” said Seder.
Mavis said Siemens will vacate the property Sept. 30. The company will still maintain the buildings, including providing heat and security, and will complete office renovations underway before leaving. It is uncertain when Siemens will dismantle the building on the corner of Sandusky and Chestnut streets.
“The buildings that will be left will be marketable buildings,” he said.
Councilman Matt Starr said that marketing efforts should include the skills of the engineers and workforce along with the Siemens’ campus and buildings. Seder agreed with the efforts to market the remaining workforce, saying “what a plus that would be to try and attract a company that would take advantage of the wonderful work force we have right here.”
