Did you pay for your neighbor to move here?

By STU CLAMPITT
news@readthereporter.com

The City of Noblesville in cooperation with MakeMyMove.com and the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) is offering out-of-state families $15,000 in cash and other incentives to move to Noblesville.

Last year, 15 families took advantage of the offer. City officials told The Reporter this year it will be 30 families, and the program should continue for four more years.

A recent Los Angeles Times article on one family’s move to Noblesville shed some light on this program, but also left The Reporter with several questions for city officials.

“In the first year in the program, the city had a goal of attracting 15 people/families – which we did,” city officials told The Reporter. “We are in our second year with MakeMyMove and have increased the number to 30 people (45 total after two years).”

IEDC offers a matching grant for communities participating in this program. According to Noblesville, “the half from IEDC covers the administration/marketing side of the program. Our funds are used for the local incentives.”

That means taxpayers already in Noblesville are paying the $15,000 per new family who moves from out of state under this program.

There are other communities offering more than $15,000 to lure new residents, but in Indiana, that is the top amount. Noblesville is tied with Floyd County for that level of incentivization.

In order to qualify for this program targeting remote workers, applicants must:

• Be employed full-time and able to relocate while retaining their current position, or
• Be self-employed and able to relocate while retaining their current clients/portfolio
• Earn at least $80,000 annually
• Be U.S. citizens
• Be 18 years or older
• Currently reside outside the state of Indiana
• Be able to relocate primary residence to Noblesville within six months

When asked what benefits Noblesville gains from this kind of residential recruitment, officials told The Reporter the following:

In a nutshell, MakeMyMove helps to grow our population, raises awareness of Noblesville outside of the Central Indiana region and attracts high income wage earners that impact our economy and tax base.

Since COVID, remote working is on the rise. This program provides an option to those workers who want to live somewhere else because of the quality-of-life amenities instead of the proximity to their office. The program helps remote workers apply to relocate to a new location. This program is open across the country, so our goal is to attract new people to Noblesville who would not have resided here otherwise. Applications are reviewed and those selected are extended an offer to relocate to Noblesville.

MakeMyMove estimates that 30 remote worker households that average $100,000 income would benefit our community a total of $2,138,780 in the first year ($41,615 in incremental property tax, $49,420 in incremental income tax and $2,047,745 in incremental direct consumer output). After year five, that return-on-investment jumps to $10,693,900.

With 15 people taking advantage of this offer last year and 30 by the end of this year, that’s an expense of $675,000 so far. Since the city mentioned incremental returns on 30 remote workers after year five, that implies at least four more years of participation. That will bring Noblesville’s total cost for recruiting out-of-state residents to $2.475 million.

In case you are wondering who pays for the coffee with the mayor part of package, we are told it’s the mayor’s treat and he personally picks up the bill.

You can read the full MakeMyMove offer online at makemymove.com/get-paid/noblesville-indiana.