St. Joseph City Council has authorized the issuance of approximately $ 55 million in Chapter 100 revenue bonds for improvements to the St. Joseph Tyson Foods plant.
Hillshire Brand Company, which is Tyson’s parent company, has asked city council to approve the plan so he can purchase machinery, equipment and other personal belongings.
Patt Lilly, president of the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce, said Tyson is making serious investments in its St. Joseph plant, implementing two product lines and creating more than 100 new jobs.
Lilly said the Chapter 100 incentive allows a Missouri company to receive a rebate on property taxes associated with an expansion.
“So this is a typical type of project that we as a community would often provide some level of incentive on personal property tax to get them to make that investment here,” Lilly said. .
For Chapter 100 bonds, the company will buy the city bonds, while the city rents new equipment from the company. The material is not taxed because it is in the name of the city. If a company does not meet its end of the bargain, the city will take back the equipment and use it to pay off the remaining obligations.
Economic development is a “very competitive game,” Lilly said, with communities across the country vying for projects. Tyson has multiple facilities across the country, he said, so the company could potentially make this investment anywhere instead.
“So in order to attract investment here… (this) also helps us, from a competitive standpoint, to maintain the facility here for the long term,” Lilly said. “So if a business invests in a facility, they’re much less likely to shut down the facility over time. “
Lilly said the bonds are really about ensuring that businesses keep investing and adding jobs to the community. He said that not only do you start to get tax revenue from the time the new equipment is installed, but there is also the benefit of the growth in the workforce and wages that the accompany.
“This is just one of the types of incentives available, whether state and local,” Lilly said.
