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City Council members approved $59.5 million in industrial revenue bonds Tuesday morning for Spirit AeroSystems, as the company expands its 737 and 787 production and repairs damage from the April 14 tornado.
Without comment, the council voted 5-0 in favor of the bond issue.
The expansion will enable Spirit to continue growing programs with new technology and compete for additional parts business, company spokesman Ken Evans said. Included is a five-year, 100 percent property tax abatement on all bond-financed real property with an additional five years subject to review.
“This is important to what we are doing and our investment in the community,” Evans said. “We really are seeing rising demand from our customers here in Wichita in two very important programs, the 737 program, which is growing like crazy, as well as expansion for the 787. We have strong backlogs on those two programs, and we’re expanding to go faster.”
The remainder of the bond issue will help repair buildings and infrastructure damaged April 14 when a tornado swept across the Spirit campus in south Wichita. Damage then was estimated at $400 million.
