Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tax Abatements topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council reviews two manufacturing tax-abatement requests; no city resolution voted
Summary
At the June 2 Alexander City Council meeting, staff outlined two tax-abatement applications from companies inside city limits. One would add production lines and about 40 jobs; the other is a retooling request from a large employer with no job additions. Council discussion leaned toward a short-term abatement but no formal city vote occurred.
Denise Walls, a city presenter, told the Alexander City Council on June 2 that the Lake Martin Area Industrial Development Authority had submitted two applications asking the city to agree to tax abatements for companies operating inside city limits. "They will be creating 40 new jobs," Walls said of the first applicant, which is proposing new production lines for a new product.
Walls said the second company is retooling existing production rather than adding new lines and "there is no associated job creation," though she described it as one of the area's largest employers and noted it currently has 11 open payments. She said the packet provided to council members showed the city's portion of potential sales-tax and property-tax abatements and included calculations for five- and 10-year options. "We automatically just calculate 10 because that's statutorily, that's the limit that you can give," Walls said, adding that the city can grant a term of one to 10 years.
The council discussed the applications but did not take a formal vote or adopt a resolution at the meeting. Councilors and staff discussed shorter abatement terms for the job-creating company; several members said three years was a likely option for sales-tax relief if the council moved forward. Walls also reminded the council that she would need a city resolution to take to the Industrial Development Authority and that "I will have to do the same thing with the County Commission, to get their approval for the county portion of the tax as well."
Council members asked questions about payroll tiers and the relative pay levels of the two companies; one councilor described the first company as a "little engine that could" and advocated giving it assistance. No motion, amendment or roll-call vote on an abatement resolution was recorded in the meeting minutes or the council's discussion that evening.
If the council elects to approve an abatement later, staff said the city would forgo collection of the city's share of the identified sales and property taxes for the period of the abatement; those amounts were presented in the staff packet but no final term was set at the June 2 meeting.
