Us
Print
E-mail
Rate
Tax breaks attract business
 |
| The United States Cold Storage facility is located in Lake City partly because of tax breaks it was afforded as an incentive to build locally. Total current property and intangible taxes for Cold Storage equal $10,880. JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter |
Corporations find warm welcome with added incentives to move here.
By JEFF M. HARDISON
jhardison@lakecityreporter.com
Property tax rebates approved by the voters and adopted by the Columbia County Board of County Commissioners have helped attract significant businesses to the area,
said Lake City-Columbia County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jim Poole.
“It’s the least costly incentive for the biggest bang,” Poole said.
While the county taxing authority provides some enterprises with property tax relief through rebates, property taxes levied by the School Board, the Lake Shore Hospital Authority and the Suwannee River Water Management District are not rebated, according to the Florida law that created the incentive for business growth.
Hunter Panels, New Millennium, United States Cold Storage and the Target Distribution Center all received or will receive tax rebates, according to records.
New Millennium and Target will receive a $4,200 rebate for each new job they bring to the area for 10 years, Poole said. New Millennium has received rebates for two years and Target begins its rebate program after its building is assessed for taxes on Jan. 1, 2009.
Rebates on property taxes last 10 years, but rebates on intangible taxes last only five years, Poole said.
One local company is out of the program. The Sitel Corp., Poole said, has already completed its 10 years in the rebate program. So, all of those taxes now go to the county.
New Millennium promised to employ 175 area residents at salaries exceeding the average wage by at least 25 percent. With a rebate of $4,200 per job, the total is $735,000 in tax relief.
Average salaries were at about $11 an hour at the time, and the company employed people at approximately $15 an hour, Poole said.
“They have helped get our average wage up quite a bit above what it was,” Poole said.
Target said it would create 240 jobs. At $4,200 per job, that’s more than $1 million in tax relief.
Poole said the rebates to Target and the other companies are incentives for economic growth.
Hunter Panels received and U.S. Cold Storage will receive rebates in a similar manner as New Millennium and Target, Poole said.
“The rebates are well worth it,” Poole said. “The investment has generated $33 million in payroll in the past four years. It has generated $200 million in capital improvements, and most of that came from Target.”
Companies receiving the rebates from the County Commission, he said, help the local school system and other taxing authorities, even before the 10-year deal is complete.
Poole said this incentive has attracted business to Lake City, but this is a benefit to the state of Florida, too. Various Georgia cities were competing to have the same companies make their homes there.
The tax rebate might have been the deal-maker for companies to choose Lake City, Poole said, given that everything else being considered by companies was equal.
New Millenium
New Millennium has a current appraised taxable property value of $15,114,377, according to Property Appraiser J. Doyle Crews.
It has tangible property valued at $16,331,900.
It has participated in the program for three years, said Poole, the executive director of the Columbia County Industrial Develop-ment Authority (IDA) as well as of the Chamber of Commerce.
In his IDA capacity, Poole verifies participating companies’ qualifications for rebates based on regulations.
Last year, New Millennium received a rebate of about $248,000, Poole said. It
paid about $100,000 to the School Board and about $29,000 to the Hospital Authority in taxes.
The property tax bill being mailed on Nov. 1 to New Millennium shows it will pay the School Board $116,683 for discretionary, local and capital outlay taxes in the coming year. The tangible taxes for the School Board equal $125,889.
New Millennium is being billed $119,268 for property tax from the County Commission, which can be rebated. The $128,677 in tangible property taxes has the potential to be rebated, Poole said.
Property taxes shows a $30,471 bill from the Lake Shore Hospital Authority and tangible taxes add another $32,875. Property taxes put $6,649 in taxes to the Suwannee River Water Management District, and the SRWMD gets $7,173 from New Millennium’s tangible property.
Columbia County Industrial Development Authority is billing New Millennium $1,1874 for property and $2,022 for tangible property. This will be refunded, Poole said.
“The IDA is dependent on the county,” Poole said. “We are willing to invest just as the county is. We don’t ask anyone to do anything we would not do.”
A county fire assessment of $6,890 adds to the property tax bill, but there is
no fire bill for tangible property.
Hunter Panels
Hunter Panels has been participating in the program for three years, Poole said.
Last year, it received a rebate of about $107,000 from the County Commission and IDA, Poole said, but it also paid $100,000 to the School Board and $62,000 to the Hospital Authority, Poole said.
Target
Only the land at the Target Distribution Center is being taxed this year, according to Steve Crane of the Property Appraiser’s Office, because the building is not yet assessed for value.
Since there was no certificate of occupancy issued for the building as of Jan. 1, it is not appraised for taxes. Crews’ office anticipates completing an initial assessment by December, but that will be only a tentative value until July 1, 2009, when the preliminary rolls are sent to Tallahassee for the November bills to be mailed.
The city of Lake City
has levied an ad valorem property tax bill of $5,463 on Target for 2009.
The city’s special city fire assessment for 2009 is $19,796.
The County Commission tax bill for 2009 is $12,125 for Target’s land.
Target’s School Board taxes for 2009 are almost $12,000. And the Hospital Authority will be paid approximately $3,000.
U.S. Cold Storage
Like the Target Distribution Center, United States Cold Storage has received no rebates because the building is not yet assessed. Like the other three, however, it will be given rebates based on the number of employees it added here.
The total property and intangible taxes for Cold Storage equal $10,880. It has a fire assessment of $1,715, according to records. While the building is now functional, it was not occupied on Jan. 1, which is when property is appraised for taxes.
State help
Poole said the state has helped the county and city as a result of new business coming to the area. The Florida Economic Development Transportation Fund (FEDTF) paid $2 million to pave Bascom Norris Drive to U.S. Highway 41 after New Millennium arrived.
The FEDTF put $300,000 into the industrial park for Hunter Panels. Another $300,000 was dedicated by FEDTF for Tammy Lane when Target came to the area, Poole said.
said Lake City-Columbia County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jim Poole.
“It’s the least costly incentive for the biggest bang,” Poole said.
While the county taxing authority provides some enterprises with property tax relief through rebates, property taxes levied by the School Board, the Lake Shore Hospital Authority and the Suwannee River Water Management District are not rebated, according to the Florida law that created the incentive for business growth.
Hunter Panels, New Millennium, United States Cold Storage and the Target Distribution Center all received or will receive tax rebates, according to records.
New Millennium and Target will receive a $4,200 rebate for each new job they bring to the area for 10 years, Poole said. New Millennium has received rebates for two years and Target begins its rebate program after its building is assessed for taxes on Jan. 1, 2009.
Rebates on property taxes last 10 years, but rebates on intangible taxes last only five years, Poole said.
One local company is out of the program. The Sitel Corp., Poole said, has already completed its 10 years in the rebate program. So, all of those taxes now go to the county.
New Millennium promised to employ 175 area residents at salaries exceeding the average wage by at least 25 percent. With a rebate of $4,200 per job, the total is $735,000 in tax relief.
Average salaries were at about $11 an hour at the time, and the company employed people at approximately $15 an hour, Poole said.
“They have helped get our average wage up quite a bit above what it was,” Poole said.
Target said it would create 240 jobs. At $4,200 per job, that’s more than $1 million in tax relief.
Poole said the rebates to Target and the other companies are incentives for economic growth.
Hunter Panels received and U.S. Cold Storage will receive rebates in a similar manner as New Millennium and Target, Poole said.
“The rebates are well worth it,” Poole said. “The investment has generated $33 million in payroll in the past four years. It has generated $200 million in capital improvements, and most of that came from Target.”
Companies receiving the rebates from the County Commission, he said, help the local school system and other taxing authorities, even before the 10-year deal is complete.
Poole said this incentive has attracted business to Lake City, but this is a benefit to the state of Florida, too. Various Georgia cities were competing to have the same companies make their homes there.
The tax rebate might have been the deal-maker for companies to choose Lake City, Poole said, given that everything else being considered by companies was equal.
New Millenium
New Millennium has a current appraised taxable property value of $15,114,377, according to Property Appraiser J. Doyle Crews.
It has tangible property valued at $16,331,900.
It has participated in the program for three years, said Poole, the executive director of the Columbia County Industrial Develop-ment Authority (IDA) as well as of the Chamber of Commerce.
In his IDA capacity, Poole verifies participating companies’ qualifications for rebates based on regulations.
Last year, New Millennium received a rebate of about $248,000, Poole said. It
paid about $100,000 to the School Board and about $29,000 to the Hospital Authority in taxes.
The property tax bill being mailed on Nov. 1 to New Millennium shows it will pay the School Board $116,683 for discretionary, local and capital outlay taxes in the coming year. The tangible taxes for the School Board equal $125,889.
New Millennium is being billed $119,268 for property tax from the County Commission, which can be rebated. The $128,677 in tangible property taxes has the potential to be rebated, Poole said.
Property taxes shows a $30,471 bill from the Lake Shore Hospital Authority and tangible taxes add another $32,875. Property taxes put $6,649 in taxes to the Suwannee River Water Management District, and the SRWMD gets $7,173 from New Millennium’s tangible property.
Columbia County Industrial Development Authority is billing New Millennium $1,1874 for property and $2,022 for tangible property. This will be refunded, Poole said.
“The IDA is dependent on the county,” Poole said. “We are willing to invest just as the county is. We don’t ask anyone to do anything we would not do.”
A county fire assessment of $6,890 adds to the property tax bill, but there is
no fire bill for tangible property.
Hunter Panels
Hunter Panels has been participating in the program for three years, Poole said.
Last year, it received a rebate of about $107,000 from the County Commission and IDA, Poole said, but it also paid $100,000 to the School Board and $62,000 to the Hospital Authority, Poole said.
Target
Only the land at the Target Distribution Center is being taxed this year, according to Steve Crane of the Property Appraiser’s Office, because the building is not yet assessed for value.
Since there was no certificate of occupancy issued for the building as of Jan. 1, it is not appraised for taxes. Crews’ office anticipates completing an initial assessment by December, but that will be only a tentative value until July 1, 2009, when the preliminary rolls are sent to Tallahassee for the November bills to be mailed.
The city of Lake City
has levied an ad valorem property tax bill of $5,463 on Target for 2009.
The city’s special city fire assessment for 2009 is $19,796.
The County Commission tax bill for 2009 is $12,125 for Target’s land.
Target’s School Board taxes for 2009 are almost $12,000. And the Hospital Authority will be paid approximately $3,000.
U.S. Cold Storage
Like the Target Distribution Center, United States Cold Storage has received no rebates because the building is not yet assessed. Like the other three, however, it will be given rebates based on the number of employees it added here.
The total property and intangible taxes for Cold Storage equal $10,880. It has a fire assessment of $1,715, according to records. While the building is now functional, it was not occupied on Jan. 1, which is when property is appraised for taxes.
State help
Poole said the state has helped the county and city as a result of new business coming to the area. The Florida Economic Development Transportation Fund (FEDTF) paid $2 million to pave Bascom Norris Drive to U.S. Highway 41 after New Millennium arrived.
The FEDTF put $300,000 into the industrial park for Hunter Panels. Another $300,000 was dedicated by FEDTF for Tammy Lane when Target came to the area, Poole said.
 |
 |
|
| Students have their A.C.T. together | Obama focuses on key White House staff |
MrPeepers wrote on Oct 31, 2008 8:03 AM: