The city of Fort Wayne plans to award General Motors a $5 million grant to mitigate some of the company's costs as it moves forward with plans to upgrade its Allen County assembly plant.

An ordinance authorizing the grant agreement will be introduced at tonight's City Council meeting. Discussion of the ordinance will likely take place on Aug. 18.

According to the ordinance, an anticipated $5 million grant from the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) has made it possible for the city to spend the same amount of money to reimburse GM for building, infrastructure, equipment and information technology expenses. The state funds will be paid to the city from the IEDC's Industrial Development Grant Fund.

To receive the money, GM will have to submit invoices to the city documenting qualifying expenses. The city will then reimburse the company. The city's obligation to reimburse GM is contingent on receipt of the IEDC grant funds.

For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Journal Gazette or visit www.JournalGazette.net after 3 a.m. Wednesday.

dgong@jg.net