Truesdale Mayor Jerry Cannon provided an update on the city’s tax abatement agreement with Refresco at the board of aldermen’s Dec. 11 meeting. 

He said the owner of the bottling plant is out of compliance with the tax abatement agreement with the city and will be paying their tax bill in full this year. 

“As of now, Refresco will be paying 100% of their tax obligation for the upcoming year,” said Cannon. 

In December 2022, the city of Truesdale granted Refresco, valued at nearly $8 billion in that year, $607,000 in tax abatements on the purchase of the new equipment with the promise that the new line would bring new business and at least 30 new jobs to Truesdale.

Since then, Refresco has filed a lawsuit against Congo Brands Procurement LLC and Prime Hydration LLC for breach of contract after they reneged on the agreement to submit orders for Prime Energy Drinks bottled at the Truesdale plant. 

Refresco alleges in the lawsuit that on March 20 of this year, Prime Energy refused outright to honor their agreement, and said they would not be purchasing any products from the plant. 

“At no time before March 20, 2024 did Defendants inform Refresco that they did not intend to fulfill their Monthly Volume Commitments and Annual Volume Commitments under the Truesdale Agreement, much less indicate that they would refuse to make any purchases of product from the Dedicated Line in April 2024 or thereafter,” states the lawsuit. 

According to Cannon, so far, Refresco has hired only two new employees since then for the production line. 

Cannon said he has been in conversation with representatives from the Warren County Economic Development Council and Refresco to find solutions. 

“We could amend the agreement for jobs created, which they promised 30. I don’t know if we want to amend it,” said Cannon. “We could push back the timetable for them to comply. What we don’t want to do is leave this out there for very long, because the new line is considered property of the city, and we don’t want to have it eventually cost the city money.”

As of right now, Refresco plans to pay their entire tax bill for 2024, although Cannon noted it will likely be a “one time thing,” provided the compliance issues with the abatement agreement are resolved.

For now, the Warren County Collector’s office has prepared a tax bill for Refresco that includes the equipment for the new service line. The bill for the previously untaxed equipment amounts to $394,737.74, according to Warren County Collector Julie Schaumberg. 

Refresco is seeking over $67 million in damages from the lawsuit.