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Colbert County Commission approves tax abatements for two manufacturing projects
Summary
On April 21, 2026 the Colbert County Commission approved two consent-agenda resolutions granting tax abatements to Essity Professional Hygiene North America LLC and Hadrian Automation, Inc., citing state incentive law and excluding local education-related taxes and the county's 0.5% sales-tax exemption.
The Colbert County Commission voted on April 21 to approve two tax abatement resolutions for manufacturing projects in the county, actions taken as part of a broader consent agenda that also included personnel and scheduling items.
The commission adopted Resolution 2026-0026 to grant construction-related transaction tax abatements to Essity Professional Hygiene North America LLC for a planned warehouse expansion in Colbert County. The resolution cites the Tax Incentive Reform Act of 1992 and explicitly excludes construction-related taxes levied for educational purposes and the county's 0.5% general sales and use tax, which Alabama Act No. 2007-351 prohibits from being abated. The resolution text lists an estimated capital investment associated with the project; the transcript formatting contained a numeric typographical error that is corrected here to $33,800,000, consistent with the resolution's intent as presented to the commission.
The commission also adopted Resolution 2026-0027 to grant abatements to Hadrian Automation, Inc. for the purchase and installation of manufacturing equipment at 1200 Haley Drive in Cherokee. Under the approved resolution, state and local noneducational property tax abatements and construction-related tax abatements are available to the company to the fullest extent allowed by the Tax Incentive Reform Act; the Hadrian resolution also specifies that noneducational property-tax abatements may be extended for a period of ten years as requested by the company. The resolution states the project involves an investment of approximately $321,500,000 as presented in the application to the county.
Chairman Isom called for the yeas and nays; the chair announced the consent agenda passed with "4 yeas and 0 nays," and recorded Commissioner Barnes as abstaining. The record shows Commissioner Tori Bailey moved to adopt the consent agenda and Commissioner Tyrus Mansell seconded the motion.
Both resolutions direct the county to forward a certified copy of the resolution and the accompanying application to the appropriate local taxing authorities and to the Alabama Department of Revenue in accordance with the Act. Each resolution also states the county will not assess a fee for granting the abatements.
Other items approved on the same consent agenda included a pay cap for Chief Deputy Lee Smith at $52,000 per year, a proclamation recognizing Youth Week on May 4, 2026, an approved $100 advertisement purchase request from Bethel Colbert Church Community Center, and a scheduling change that moves the May 5, 2026 meeting to April 30, 2026 at 5:00 p.m.; the county administrator was directed to post required notice of the date change.
Next steps: certified copies of both resolutions and the associated applications will be forwarded to taxing authorities and the Alabama Department of Revenue as required by state law.
