Adams May Look at Tax Break Incentives For Businesses
ADAMS, Mass. — The town may take a more in-depth look at business tax incentives to attract companies to the industrial park and downtown.
Selectman John Duval asked Wednesday during a workshop meeting if the town could benefit from offering tax breaks to businesses of all kinds in hopes of attracting some that will create jobs and vibrancy downtown.
"What are the pros and cons of offering a business that might want to move into town a few years without taxes?" Duval asked. "I say this because right now we don't have business moving into the community so you aren't gaining any taxes anyways … it's just a question."
Director of Community Development Donna Cesan said the state offers programs that mostly large industrial businesses can take advantage of. She said many businesses in the industrial park have and are taking advantage of state tax incentive programs.
She said businesses must send in information to the state as well as agree to meet hiring specifications. Usually, the state must approve these incentives as well as the town. Data must be sent to the state to make sure the businesses are keeping up their end of the bargain.
In the past, the town has been burned by similar programs, Cesan said. She noted a wood pellet company left before its tax-free time frame ended.
"That was the issue.They pretty much paid no property taxes to the town of Adams and that is where the disgruntlement came from," Cesan said.
Tax breaks had lasted 12 to 15 years, but now are much shorter to prevent this.
Cesan said a more localized program to attract business may be developed by the town from the ground up.
For example, there are programs that collect taxes from certain area businesses but invest that money directly back into the downtown.
"The businesses know their taxes are going to direct improvements that will be right for them and their customers," she said.
Cesan said that it might be beneficial to create a revolving loan account with around $500,000 so the town can give out small loans to first-time business owners.
"It would be just to get people started because there are so many startup costs ... that would be helpful in attracting businesses," she said.
The town has done similar things with business by bringing in outside help to aid first-time business owners and the façade improvement program.
She said the assessor would have more information on how to build a local tax incentive program.
Selectman Arthur "Skip" Harrington said it might be beneficial to build a tiered system with a different protocols for different businesses.
"I think it depends on the kind of business and we need to create something that would be ours," he said. "We need to come up with a new way to handle what we have here and what we will have here ... an artist's needs are different than a large manufacturing plant."
Chairman Jeffrey Snoonian agreed that it would be better to handle each business on its own instead of having a "blanket" program.
The Selectmen agreed to continue the discussion on tax incentives at a later date.
Cesan also provided the board with a formatted framework draft of town goals and a changing spreadsheet that prioritizes goals that will be part of the town's strategic plan.
Last year, the town brought representatives from the University of Massachusetts at Boston's Edward J. Collins Jr. Center for Public Management to oversee community strategic planning sessions.
All the information collected was boiled down to a document that the Selectmen have slowly been whittling down to a final draft.
The board agreed to look over the framework and asked that department heads get a copy to review before final approval.
Cesan said the spreadsheet brings the strategic plan to life and helps the town prioritize, delegate and secure funding.
"This is a more fluid document, and this really becomes a tool for the selectmen, town government and staff," she said. "Things can be plugged in ... to make it a more contemporary useful document."
Harrington agreed.
"We shouldn't have to wait five to 10 years to create a new plan to change something, and this is a very dynamic way to do it," he said. "Previous plans have just sat on a shelf."
Cesan said it will take a few weeks for the department heads to review the document but after that, it can return to the Selectmen for final approval.
After that, the town will hold a public meeting before finalizing the strategic plan.
"I am happy this is coming to fruition because I felt in past we had a lot of things moving forward but there never was a conclusion," Selectman Joseph Nowak said. "So I am glad we are taking care of this."
Tags: business development, economic development, strategic plan, tax incentive,