W.D.M. OK with Holmes Murphy move to Waukee
KENT DARR Jun 24, 2016 | 3:08 pm
<1 min read time
0 wordsAll Latest News, Business Record Insider, Real Estate and DevelopmentWest Des Moines will support the expected pursuit of state tax incentives for Holmes Murphy & Associates’ move to Waukee.
Though Waukee city officials have yet to acknowledge that Holmes Murphy plans a corporate campus in the city’s Kettlestone development district, West Des Moines city officials have confirmed that the insurance broker wants to leave town.
One hitch in the expected move has been West Des Moines’ reluctance to approve Holmes Murphy’s expected application for state economic development incentives, which come in a variety of forms, including a waiver of sales taxes that would be paid on construction supplies, forgivable loans and tax credits.
On Thursday, West Des Moines City Manager Tom Hadden sent a letter to Waukee City Administrator Tim Moerman noting that Waukee had met the requirements of a “fair play” agreement that seeks to eliminate corporate raiding parties in Greater Des Moines.
The Waukee City Council voted without comment this week to join eight other cities that have agreed not to offer financial incentives to companies planning to move out of one local community to another until that business delivers a letter saying it has made an “irrevocable” decision to relocate. Other cities that have signed the fair play agreement are Des Moines, Altoona, Clive, West Des Moines, Urbandale, Indianola, Ankeny and Johnston. The communities also agree that they will not offer financial incentives that are beyond the norm of what is offered in Greater Des Moines in an effort to persuade a business to relocate.
The agreement was negotiated after a number of businesses were considering moving out of Des Moines to the suburbs, while a few were considering moves from the suburbs to Des Moines. Holmes Murphy relocated to West Des Moines from Des Moines in 1998. Hadden said recently that the company did not receive incentives from West Des Moines.
Though former West Des Moines Mayor Gene Meyer was one architect of the agreement, he said through a spokeswoman at the Greater Des Moines Partnership, where he is president, that his memory of those times might be too vague to discuss the background of the agreement.
Des Moines City Councilwoman Christine Hensley recalled that the agreement was the result of difficult negotiations that were led by Meyer and former Des Moines Mayor Preston Daniels. One concern was that the document might be so restrictive that it would limit growth.
“As I look back at it, it has worked pretty well,” she said.
Holmes Murphy officials have not responded to a Business Record request to discuss their expected move, and Waukee city officials will not acknowledge that the company is eyeing property in their city.
However, the move has been discussed in development circles for the better part of a year, and in recent weeks renderings of a corporate campus on land owned by Knapp Properties Inc. also have made the rounds. Knapp Properties also declines to confirm the planned development.
In the letter to Moerman, Hadden said Waukee has “met the intent of the Fair Play Agreement and therefore the City of West Des Moines is in support of Waukee’s application to the Iowa Economic Development Authority” for state programs offered “on behalf of Holmes Murphy.”
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