Print edition: 
WICHITA — Wichita City Council members denied an extension of property tax exemptions for Sharpline Converting this morning because the company only briefly had as many employees as it promised to add when it was granted the initial tax break in 2005.
Council members critiqued the city's policy on tax exemptions and voted 6-1 to deny the extension.
Mayor Carl Brewer voted against denial and warned that the city would have to be consistent and possibly deny exemptions for other employers, large and small, that are enduring the recession.
Council members last month approved a new tax exemption policy that requires companies seeking renewed tax breaks to meet at least two of three measures:
* Whether they expanded physically, as promised.
* If they added as many employees as they promised.
* If the move leads to a projected 1.3 to 1 benefit to cost ratio for the city — meaning that for every dollar exempted, at least $1.30 is coming back to the economy in other ways, such as in salaries or sales taxes.
Council member Sue Schlapp said many people have complained that the city grants tax breaks without ensuring all promises are met. Schlapp said the city has set a trend of granting breaks without much scrutiny.
"We just seem to be lowering the bar all the time," she said.
Council member Paul Gray said the city tried to get tougher on tax exemptions when he and Schlapp were elected. But he said the city hasn't followed through.
"All we're doing is making ourselves look bad in these situations," he said.
He said he likes Sharpline, which makes custom graphics for vehicles, and is glad to have the company in Wichita.
City reports show the company planned to add 56 jobs. But it now has 100 fewer jobs than it did in 2005. The move would have had a .12 to 1 benefit to cost ratio for the city.
Gray said it looks like Sharpline's commitment was never held longer than a couple of days, weeks or months.
"I'm paying property taxes," he said. "And every one of you is paying property taxes so that they don't have to pay property taxes."
