The city’s getting a good bang for its buck when it gives property tax abatements to businesses, a majority of city commissioners agreed Tuesday night.

“I would have to say our record has been pretty good over the years,” City Commissioner Mike Amyx said. “I think we have seen the development of some solid companies. I think we have helped create the opportunity for people to work at good, solid companies.”

Commissioners accepted the 2006 tax abatement report – a detailed listing of all the property tax breaks businesses were given for the year – on a 4-1 vote. Commissioner Boog Highberger was the lone dissenter. He said he was concerned some businesses were not creating as many jobs as they had projected.

In particular, he pointed to DST Systems, a financial services company that took over the offices of Sallie Mae near Sixth and Iowa streets. The company conceded in the 2006 report that it was 29 full-time jobs below the level it projected when applying for City Commission approval of the abatement in 2000. But the company – which has 146 full-time employees – has created 87 part-time positions that it did not project on its application.

Officials from DST were not on hand at the Tuesday evening meeting to respond to concerns.

Other commissioners, though, said the city does have to be sensitive to changing business conditions and recognize that economic factors that a company may not be able to control can influence their employment levels.

Mayor Sue Hack said she did not want the city to be seen as playing a game of “gotcha” with businesses who did not meet original projections. She did say the city should note deficiencies in job totals when they exist and said the city’s tax abatement review committee – which she chairs – could have done a better job of that for the 2006 report.

According to the report, the city still has gained more jobs than it originally anticipated from the eight companies that have active tax abatements. Four of the companies have fewer employees than projected, but the other four have significantly more than projected, according to the report. In total, the eight companies have produced 86 more jobs than projected.