County weighs refund of taxes for firm
By Steve Herring
Published in News on June 30, 2013 1:50 AM
A public hearing on possible economic incentives in the form of refunded property taxes for a yet-to-be-identified company will be held Tuesday at 5:15 p.m.
The hearing is one of the few items on the agenda for Wayne County commissioners' final experimental evening session. The meeting will be held in the commissioners' meeting room on the fourth floor of the county courthouse annex.
The agenda briefing will start at 3 p.m. followed by the meeting at 4 p.m. Public comments will be taken at 6 p.m.
Commissioners set the Tuesday public hearing following a 20-minute closed meeting on June 18 with Wayne County Development Alliance Vice President Mike Haney.
The company was not identified when the hearing was scheduled.
"We are not giving the name of the company because of another pending state issue of announcement and we do not want to preclude that grant opportunity for this company," County Manager Lee Smith said at the meeting. "The company name will be given prior to the public hearing."
The incentive will average approximately a 45 percent refund of taxes the company would pay to the county for five years, Smith said.
The actual dollar amount will depend on what is paid, he said.
The only other items on the agenda include a report by the board's appointment committee; commissioners' committee reports; and board comments.
In April, the board voted 6-1 to experiment with the evening sessions for their first meetings of the month in May, June and July.
Several commissioners campaigned on holding the evening meetings. They argued that the evening meetings would make it easier for people to attend.
However, the meetings have failed to attract much public attention.
Commissioners have not indicated whether or not they will continue the evening sessions.