Print edition: 
WICHITA — City Council members today voted to give the Coleman Co. $5.3 million in industrial revenue bonds even though the company has not added the new jobs it projected years ago when the city agreed to millions in tax breaks.
The bonds will help pay for a phased expansion of plants in Wichita and Maize to produce more jumbo-sized coolers.
The move, which will be finalized in a vote next week, comes as council members face questions about whether to continue public assistance for private projects that aren't generating new jobs.
Tax incentives typically hinge on a company's promise to add more jobs to the local economy or to entice a company to move to the city or stay in it.
But the economic downturn has led many such companies to cut back. Council members have generally indicated they want to help companies make it through the downturn by helping finance expansions, even if they don't immediately add jobs.
The council also approved a $45 million IRB for Cessna to finance routine plant upgrades. That company has also cut its work force. Once the city's biggest employer with about 12,000 employees, Cessna now employs about half that, according to Allen Bell, the city's director of urban development.
Vice Mayor Jim Skelton pointed out that the city's analysis of the Cessna request incorrectly notes "Cessna has recently announced the addition of a large-body business jet, the Citation Columbus, to be produced in Wichita."
Bell acknowledged that Cessna has canceled that project because of the nation's economic problems.
But he said he thinks Cessna will bounce back.
"We believe and Cessna also believes that it will come back," he said. "We need to hang in with them."
