The Duplin County Board of Commissioners on Sept. 2 approved a framework to offer a property-tax reimbursement incentive for a large agricultural storage project identified in county materials as "Project Perry." The motion, made by Commissioner Garner and seconded by Commissioner Edwards, passed unanimously with the chairman authorized to sign the agreement pending county attorney approval.

The incentive would reimburse a portion of property taxes on new construction for a project with a local investment threshold of at least $41,000,000. Duplin County Economic Development Director Scotty Summerlin told the board the structure would amount to an average annual incentive of about $154,600 over the life of the agreement and that the net new annual tax revenue above the incentive would be about $83,200. He also said performance conditions would require local investment at the $41 million threshold and a minimum of five jobs tied to the facility.

The economic-development commission had recommended the incentive. Summerlin described the project as a long-standing agricultural business expanding grain storage and drying capacity in the Rosehill area, saying the facility would increase throughput and reduce farmers' unload times. "This will allow farmers to turn trucks back to their fields faster and allow them to realize increased combination of efficiencies while lowering their overall operating costs," Summerlin said.

Commission discussion clarified that the incentive is a property-tax reimbursement tied to meeting investment and employment benchmarks and that the contract would return to the board for signature only after county attorney review. No specific company name was disclosed during the meeting; Summerlin said the business is an existing county employer and is being referred to as Project Perry for confidentiality during negotiations.

The board did not set final incentive terms at the meeting; commissioners approved the form of the performance incentive agreement and authorized the chairman to sign contingent on attorney approval. The agreement will include performance callbacks should the investment or job thresholds not be met.

What happens next: county staff and the county attorney will finalize contract language and return the agreement for signature and implementation details. The board did not adopt a final ordinance or resolution at this meeting.