Two corporations in Limestone County received approval this week for an additional 10 years without paying certain taxes, but not every commissioner was on board with the idea.

District 4 Commissioner Ben Harrison was the lone vote against tax abatements for Mazda Motor of America Inc. and Bocar U.S. Inc., and he shared multiple reasons for his decision during Monday’s commission meeting. For starters, he said, everyone deserves equal treatment, whether they’re a citizen, small business or large corporation.

“I would love to give every business a tax abatement, especially our local small businesses,” Harrison said. “However, if our citizens have to pay taxes, corporations and businesses should as well.”

Mazda is seeking the abatement for a new 16,650-square-foot building to be built at the Mazda-Toyota Manufacturing USA complex, where it will house “central offices, research and development functions, climate testing and audit/emissions laboratories” for MTMUS. Harrison said until roads are better funded, however, he could not support an extended tax abatement or any “unnecessary spending.”

“We have to provide the proper infrastructure to support these businesses,” he said. “Our infrastructure is not ready for the growth that Limestone County is facing. … The citizens of Limestone County deserve better roads more than giving incentives to corporations.”

The abatement covers construction-related transaction taxes, noneducational ad valorem taxes and mortgage and recording taxes, according to the resolution approved Monday. District 3 Commissioner Jason Black said requiring those taxes “wouldn’t make a dent at all” in the road funding, but giving the corporation a tax break like this incentivizes them to stay in Limestone County, meaning schools can still receive their portion of the taxes and those jobs are still available to Limestone residents.

“The schools are making a killing off these industries and stuff coming in, because you can’t abate school tax,” Black said. “We abate the taxes that the Limestone County Commission would receive. Twenty years from now, when Mazda and Toyota is full throttle, the county is going to be loaded. All of those places are going to be paying, and it’ll be amazing.”

Bocar

The commissioners were also split on the Bocar tax abatement. Bocar, a Tier 1 automotive supplier, announced in 2017 it would be building a new plant in Huntsville-annexed Limestone County. However, as construction progressed, problems arose, including sinkholes, pile-ins and other geological issues, according to Lucia Cape of the Chamber of Commerce of Huntsville/Madison County, who spoke during the commission’s work session.

Cape said the issues cost Bocar “nearly $7 million more than they expected. They had to do a lot of remediation to the soil because of deposits or sinkholes, or however the geologists described them, to shore up that land to make it possible for them to build their facility there.”

Later, during the meeting, Harrison referred to the situation as “a business risk” that “creates a moral hazard.”

“If someone builds in a flood zone and government provides that insurance, well, there’s less incentive for the homeowner to build to certain standards when they know they’re going to get that bailout,” Harrison said. “… I see no reason why the citizens of Limestone County should be required to bail them out for a risk that is simply a business risk.”

District 1 Commissioner Daryl Sammet partially disagreed with this assessment, telling The News Courier on Tuesday that while construction issues may be a risk, “there’s no way anybody can tell anything like that.”

“They need help with it, and I’d hate for them to get up and leave because of it,” Sammet said. “I’m in support of economic development and industries coming in here, and sometimes they need help.”

He also praised companies giving people in Limestone County an opportunity to work, something that also factored into District 2 Commissioner Steve Turner’s decision.

“I’ve always been in support of these businesses coming here,” Turner said. “There’s no need in changing now. Whether they have started hiring yet or will be hiring, those are jobs that will be available to people that will live here.”

Other business

In addition to a 3-1 approval for each tax abatement, commissioners unanimously approved the following:

• Limestone County’s participation in the severe weather preparedness tax holiday;

• Accepting two emergency management performance grants, for a total of $44,532 received;

• Entering a pavement reimbursement agreement to cover the cost of paving 0.4 miles of County Line Road between Lauderdale County and Limestone County in District 4. After paving, Lauderdale County will bill Limestone County $58 per ton of asphalt used;

• Contract with Volkert Professional Services for U.S. 72 and Mooresville Road Intersection Improvements;

• Transferring an employee to the administrative clerk position at the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office;

• Hiring three individuals as corrections officers, pending drug screenings;

• Rickett Farms, Phase 1, a 41-lot major subdivision in District 2, about .5 miles north of Pepper Road on Jones Road; and

• Burgreen Hollow, a 2-lot minor subdivision in District 2, north of Huntsville-Browns Ferry Road on the west side of Burgreen Road.