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Jackson County approves MOU, five-year tax rebate tied to Project Bristol water-bottling plant
Summary
The Jackson County Board approved a memorandum of understanding and an economic-development resolution allowing a five-year, phased tax-rebate incentive for Project Bristol, a water-bottling operation planned for Marianna Industrial Park. The incentive is tied to a jobs commitment in the MOU.
The Jackson County Board of County Commissioners on Wednesday approved a memorandum of understanding with Project Bristol that permits the county to provide tax-rebate incentives to support a water-bottling operation proposed for 3521 Russell Road in the Marianna Industrial Park.
The MOU authorizes a tax-rebate structure that would begin in year two of operations and run for five years, contingent on the company meeting conditions in the agreement. County economic-development staff said the incentive is tied to job creation requirements in the MOU.
Darwin Gilmore, who spoke for county economic-development staff, said the MOU includes a threshold of 75 jobs the company must create to qualify for the incentive and that staff believes the employer could reach more than 100 positions as the business expands. "We've documented that 75 jobs are going to be required for the incentive, but we believe it's gonna be north of a hundred jobs," Gilmore said.
Commissioners discussed the structure and competitive context before voting. Commissioners noted the county regularly competes with neighboring states for projects and said a limited, time‑bound rebate can be a tool to secure employment and reuse large vacant buildings in the industrial park.
The board approved the MOU and authorized the chairman to sign. The item follows a separate but related county adoption of a general economic-development incentive resolution that gives the board flexibility to negotiate site-specific rebates and reimbursements in future cases.
The MOU and the incentive will require implementation steps before payments occur: local staff and attorneys indicated the city of Marianna had already approved an identical MOU at its Feb. 4 meeting, and county staff said tax rebates would be paid as reimbursements after taxes are paid and after the county verifies that the MOU conditions are met.
No ordinance number or statutory reference was cited as the basis for the rebate authority during the meeting; county staff said the board has used similar incentive frameworks in prior projects and that the MOU was worked through by county and city attorneys.
The board did not record a roll-call vote in the transcript excerpt; procedures recorded a motion, a second, and an approval. No potential offsetting local budget amounts were specified in the discussion.
