Industry group wants to salvage tax break proposal

Refresco seeking abatement to launch new production line

Adam Rollins, Staff Writer
Posted 10/20/22

After the Truesdale city government strongly signaled that a request for $986,000 in corporate tax abatements was destined for rejection, the Greater Warren County Economic Development Council is …

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Industry group wants to salvage tax break proposal

Refresco seeking abatement to launch new production line

Posted

After the Truesdale city government strongly signaled that a request for $986,000 in corporate tax abatements was destined for rejection, the Greater Warren County Economic Development Council is stepping in to try to salvage a deal.

Refresco, the international bottling company that took over the Coca-Cola plant in Truesdale last year, is requesting the tax abatements over the course of 10 years in order to soften the cost of purchasing $22 million in equipment to launch a new production line. The investment would add 30 to 40 new jobs to the plant, according to Refresco representatives.

The tax abatements would be a reduction in personal property taxes owed on the new production equipment. The new equipment would still generate an estimated $732,000 in new taxes over 10 years, even after the abatements.

Truesdale aldermen are highly reluctant to grant the tax abatements, especially considering that $719,000 of the reductions would be money that would otherwise go to area schools. 

The two sides of the discussion met again on Oct. 12 to continue talks, but quickly became argumentative. Truesdale aldermen are frustrated that a profitable, multi-national company is asking to withhold funding from local services with tight budgets. Resfresco reps are frustrated by the negative portrayal of what they see as a win-win proposal.

“We don’t look at it as a (corporate) welfare project. We look at it as investment in our community ... to grow jobs, to grow our employees’ opportunities,” said Steve Kaufman with Refresco.

Alderman Jerry Cannon, the most vocal opponent of the tax breaks, asked why the city should give Refresco a deal that locally-owned businesses aren’t getting.

“These other small businesses here, they (make a profit) and they still pay their taxes. They invest on their own,” Cannon said. “When Olive’s Bakery needs a new case for her donuts, she doesn’t go to the city of Truesdale or the state of Missouri and say, ‘Hey, help me,’ she does it out of her profit.”

“If she were hiring 40 employees and investing $22 million to make her donuts,” retorted Kaufman, growing heated, “my guess is she would ask you for the same (abatements) as we are.”

The conversation took a notably more negotiable turn with the intervention of Steve Etcher, a leading representative for the Greater Warren County Economic Development Council. He expressed understanding for the concern raised by aldermen, and said the city could implement economic performance requirements to ensure the tax breaks are creating new jobs that benefit the whole area.

“That job creation is going to create $4 million in payroll that’s going to be felt throughout the community ... at every place in town where they would be spending money, and maybe even in new subdivisions,” Etcher said. “The value of attracting this is the jobs, not (just) the increase in property taxes. ... Sometimes you have to give a little bit to get a little bit.”

Etcher said Refresco is also applying to the Missouri state government for tax incentives that would help cover the cost of hiring new workers.

Despite their misgivings, Etcher asked the aldermen to hold a follow-up discussion to explore how the tax break request could be modified to make it more amenable, including changes to the amount of tax being abated or the number of years the abatements last. The aldermen begrudgingly agreed, saying they would at least hear the available options.

Further discussion was scheduled for Oct. 20 at 5:30 p.m. in Truesdale City Hall.

Truesdale Board of Aldermen, Refresco, Greater Warren County Economic Development Council, Tax break, Abatement

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