In October 2015 the Hamilton County Industrial Development Board approved a tax break to McKee Foods Corporation in the form of a 10-year payment-in-lieu-of tax agreement. It is for an expansion of equipment and office space that will increase production capacity leading to increased employment. The city of Collegedale also provided a tax abatement plan to McKee for the same time. At the Collegedale Commission meeting Monday night, Attorney Kurt J. Faires, representing McKee, asked the board of commissioners to move the window for the 10 years of tax breaks back one year. “We were slightly optimistic about the timing,” he said. He asked for and received approval for the change, because construction will not be finished in 2017. The abatement will now begin Jan. 1, 2018 instead Jan. 1, 2017 as in the original agreement. The change will allow the company to take full advantage of the PILOT.
Vice Mayor Tim Johnson asked for clarification concerning reports that Hamilton County will start charging individual municipalities for doing property assessments. City Attorney Sam Elliott said a statute has been in place in Tennessee for the past 18-20 years that would allow the charges. He said when Marty Haynes was elected as tax assessor he was advised of the law that had not been enforced by his predecessor. Hamilton County does a reassessment every four years. There are also re-evaluations at various times between those four-year terms, for example, when property is bought and sold, and Mr. Haynes wants to charge the cities for those, too. The small city coalition is opposed to the new charges, said Mr. Elliott.
Michelle Toro, assistant city manager, gave the financial report for the month of November, in the absence of City Manager Ted Rogers. At 41 percent through the fiscal year, the city has received 34 percent of expected revenues and 67 percent of expected expenditures have been made. She said that appears a little “up-side-down” because the city will receive a million dollars in January from property taxes and because of the $1.5 million the city spent to jump-start the building at Collegedale Commons.
Ms. Toro announced that the regularly-scheduled commission meeting scheduled for Jan. 2 has been cancelled.