Clovis Commission adopts revised industrial incentive policies, extends IRB term to 30 years

The Clovis City Commission on Tuesday approved revised policies and procedures for economic incentives aimed at industry and manufacturing, expanding the maximum term for Industrial Revenue Bonds and updating scoring criteria for applicants.

City staff presented the changes, saying the policy rewrite consolidated duplicative language, clarified application checklists and adjusted program eligibility. "IRBs are allowed to go up to 30 years," a staff presenter noted, and the new document raises the local policy cap from 20 to 30 years to align with state statute, according to the discussion recorded during the meeting.

The revised policy also changes how health insurance is treated in scoring. Health-coverage requirements will remain mandatory for applicants requesting IRBs; other applicants will not be required to include health benefits but will score higher if they offer them. The commission clarified that the incentives are guidelines and that the Economic Incentive Board may recommend exceptions to the commission.

Commissioners also discussed an eligibility detail that previously required manufactured goods to be exported out of state. The policy now requires that qualifying manufacturers "export a product" rather than rely on in-person customers. As explained in the meeting, that means a manufacturer selling products outside the municipal boundary qualifies even if it also sells locally.

Commissioner Garza moved for approval; Commissioner Casaus seconded. The motion carried unanimously by acclamation. The commission did not attach additional conditions to the policy changes during the vote.

The adopted policies will be incorporated into a revised application form to be used by companies applying for local manufacturing incentives and to the Economic Incentive Board's pass/fail checklist.