County Manager Brian Epley and Commissioner Jeff Brittain at the agenda-setting meeting of the Burke County Board of Commissioners.
Kristin Bunn addresses the Burke County Board of Commissioners as Burke Development Incorporated President and CEO Brandon Ruppe looks on.
Ed Phillips, CEO of the Burke County Tourism Development Authority, speaks to the Burke County Board of Commissioners about the America 250 time capsule.
Burke County Commissioners are considering an incentive package for what they’re calling “Project Ice Bear,” another attempt by the county to sweeten the deal for a potential manufacturer considering setting up shop in Burke.
Project Ice Bear is estimated to lead to approximately $16.9 million in investment over three years. The code-named project will produce 37 new jobs, with an average annual salary of $64,716, well above the county median of about $49,020, as referred to at August’s commissioners meeting.
“We are super excited for the project,” said Brandon Ruppe, president and CEO of Burke Development Inc. (BDI). “The company really values people.”
The proposed tax incentives that the commissioners are considering will amount to “no more than 40% of the ad valorem tax revenues generated by qualifying net new real and personal property associated with the project over a three-year period.”
Ad valorem tax revenues are the funds collected by local governments through taxes based on a property’s assessed value.
Based on the estimated investment, the total incentive — ultimately, a reimbursement through annual grants coming out of the county’s general fund reserve — would amount to $87,270. That total is subject to change based on tax assessments over the three-year period.
This is the second incentive package Burke has considered in the last few months, with Project Arlington getting the commissioners’ approval back in August for a manufacturer considering filling an empty textile mill in Valdese.
The county hopes the incentive packages will be enticing enough to draw in the employers, not only bringing jobs to the area, but also providing a much-needed injection into the economy through an expanded tax base.
According to Ruppe, until the employers have decided to go forward with Burke, the county shies away from being transparent on the prospective businesses, hence the nicknames.
Not only could the company be negatively affected if the information is released ahead of the decision, positive or negative, but it is sometimes required as part of the preliminary discussions that the business’ identity not be shared.
The county will hold a public hearing on the subject on Sept. 21, at the next commissioners’ meeting.
INDIAN HILLS PUMP STATION
On the eastern side of Burke County, the Indian Hills pump station is nearly at capacity, according to previous reports. Because of capacity concerns, the development of new homes in the area has slowed.
However, County Manager Brian Epley told the board on Sept. 8 that county workers had found a potential grant opportunity for up to $15 million in funding that could be directed to the pump station.
The grant wouldn’t require a local match, said Epley, and would help mitigate the costs of the Indian Hills expansion.
“That is a very expensive proposition, in excess of $10 million,” Epley said to the commissioners. “We have found a grant opportunity for infrastructure investments through Grow NC, which is a new program post-Hurricane Helene.”
Renew NC, and subsequently Grow NC, provides long-term recovery from Hurricane Helene in communities in western North Carolina, and is administered by the North Carolina Department of Commerce.
The county views the Indian Hills pump station, which runs wastewater from the eastern side of the county to the city of Hickory, as a disaster preparedness initiative as well as a capacity initiative directly tied to housing and economic development.
While the county would normally wait to hold the public hearing required by the state, Epley explained that the deadline for applications would be on Sept. 16, and to meet the deadline they would have to hold the public hearing at the commissioners’ pre-agenda meeting.
When no one came up to speak, the commissioners approved the application unanimously among those present.
C-PACE
The county will also hold a public hearing on Sept. 21 to decide whether they will adopt a resolution allowing the North Carolina Commercial Property Assessed Capital Expenditure (C-PACE) Program to operate within Burke.
C-PACE allows owners of commercial properties to obtain long-term financing from private capital providers for up to 35% of the value of the property. The loans are to be geared toward qualifying improvements such as energy efficiency, renewable energy, and water conservation, as well as improvements to the accessibility of safe drinking water.
“I like to use the analogy it’s encouraging the developers to buy the nicer light bulb, and then they can finance the cost of that light bulb over the life of that light bulb,” said C-PACE Program Administrator Kristin Bunn.
The reason a resolution is needed from the county is because of how the funding operates. C-PACE conducts an assessment and places a lien on the property, which secures payment to the lender.
The funding doesn’t pass through the county, and no tax dollars are used in the financing, but the county allows C-PACE to place the lien and handle administrative functions. These are not loans from the county. The county would simply allow C-PACE to establish a requirement that the financing organization be paid.
“That’s allowing that financing entity to feel more comfortable with what typically a financial institution might consider a little bit risky,” Bunn said. “The building doesn’t have that value today. It’s in transition. We’re making it nicer. We’re installing new lightbulbs or we’re building a building. They might want to actually see that value exist before they would hold it as collateral, where C-PACE is really helping fill that niche around the transition.”
The program already operates across 40 states, including North Carolina, said Bunn. The public hearing and decision on the C-PACE program within Burke will be held on Sept. 21 at the Burke County Commissioners meeting.
