Industry grant hearing Tuesday
By Steve Herring
Published in News on November 29, 2015 3:05 AM
Wayne County commissioners are scheduled to hold an already twice-delayed public hearing Tuesday on an incentive grant for an existing industry.
Tuesday's meeting will begin with an 8 a.m. agenda briefing followed by the formal session at 9 a.m. Both will be held in the commissioners' meeting room.
The first order of business will be the election of a chairman and vice chairman.
The amount of the incentive and the identity of the company will not be made public until the hearing that will start at 9:15 a.m. in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the county courthouse.
The hearing was continued from the board's Nov. 17 session because the company was not yet ready to proceed.
If approved, it would be the second grant awarded since the board adopted the incentive policy in August.
Greensboro-based Repreve Renewables that produces bedding products for the poultry industry received the first grant, worth $7,439 per year over a five-year period for a total of $37,284.
Only tax money paid in by a company is used for the grant it receives.
The company pays its property taxes and the county in turn refunds a portion of those taxes to the company dependent on the company completing its project within two years once under way and creating the promised number of jobs and investment.
The grants are broken down into four levels based on the cost of a qualifying capital investment by new or expanding industries:
* Level I (65 percent): $1 million to $4,999,999.
* Level II (75 percent): $5 million to $9,999,999.
* Level III (85 percent): $10 million to $24,999,999.
* Level IV (95 percent): $25 million or more. Grants at this level may qualify for additional incentives. Any additional incentives would come as a recommendation from a committee consisting of the county manager, a county commissioner, the Wayne County Development Alliance board chairman and its president.
The annual grant is calculated by multiplying the dollar amount of the investment, as determined the Wayne County Tax Department, by the current general county tax rate and then by the percentage level of the grant.
For example, using the 95 percent level on a $25 million qualifying investment the $25 million is multiplied by 66.5 percent (0.00665, the current general county tax rate) to get $166,250. The $166,250 is then multiplied by 95 percent to get $157,937.50 per year times five years for a total grant of $789,687.50.
Following the public hearing commissioners will meet as the Wayne County Board of Adjustment to consider a special use permit for a duplex apartment at 305 South St.
Dwight Ingram has requested the special use permit to develop one duplex apartment in a Residential Agriculture 20 district. The vacant property is located on the northeast corner of U.S. 117 North at its intersection with South Street.
Duplex apartments are allowed in the zone as a special use.
In other business, commissioners will be asked to approve a tax-exempt loan for the Thoroughfare Fire Department to refinance its building. Approval does not obligate the county for the loan.
Commissioners also will be asked to approve a five-year lease for $1 annually with the town of Mount Olive for the town's former rescue building. The county uses the building as an emergency medical services building.
Items on the consent agenda are: Applications for Disabled Veteran Property Tax Exclusion; applications for Property Tax Exclusion; applications for Present Use Value; and budget amendments.
The public comments portion of the meeting will start at 10 a.m. Speakers will have four minutes to speak on their topics of choice.