Belmont council approves incentive package for confidential manufacturing project

Belmont City Council unanimously adopted a resolution Jan. 6 approving a city incentive package to support a confidential manufacturing prospect the county and city are handling as "Project Jasmine." City and county economic‑development staff said the package is designed to dovetail with state job development incentives and the county's tax‑based incentive schedule.

Donnie, a county economic‑development representative, told the council that the city's incentive program uses a tiered schedule tied to assessed tax value; a level‑three incentive applies to projects projected at about $30 million in assessed investment and uses a 10‑year sliding payout that begins at 90 percent and declines over time. He said the county and state processes operate together: the state evaluates and may award a JDIG (job development investment grant) while the county and city execute local economic development agreements to document obligations and payouts.

"We tend to have our incentives focused on property tax real assets and the state tends to focus on income and wages," Donnie said, explaining how the pieces fit together.

Donnie and staff described Project Jasmine as a consumer‑products manufacturing operation using nonwoven materials; they said the company is a foreign direct investor and that confidentiality is standard in such recruitments. Donnie said the project could produce as many as 346 jobs and the council discussed an average starting salary figure that was referenced near $51,000.

City Manager Miles Braswell and other staff said the county administers much of the incentive paperwork and that the city’s resolution confirms Belmont’s portion of the incentive package. Councilmember Alex moved adoption of the resolution; the motion was seconded and passed unanimously.

The resolution approved by council authorizes participation in the incentive schedule as described in staff materials and directs staff to finalize the economic‑development agreement as needed to match the county and state components. Council members noted the economic opportunity and the need to monitor traffic and other impacts; a council member asked whether the facility would increase truck traffic and was told staff expects, based on conversations with the company, that the operation could actually reduce some truck movements compared with alternative uses for the site.

Next steps identified at the meeting: the county will continue to process the JDIG application and the city will work with the county and the company to prepare the economic‑development agreement and any annexation or site requirements, if applicable. Because the company request is confidential at this stage, the council packet does not list a company name; staff said state review informed the decision to proceed with incentives.

Action: Resolution approving city incentive participation for "Project Jasmine" (motion passed unanimously).