NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council on Tuesday approved a tax increment financing agreement with Tog Manufacturing as it doubles in size and employment over the next five years.
"This is a good agreement, this is an agreement that is tied both to physical investment in the facility as well as to planned and proposed job creation," said Mayor Thomas Bernard. "It's an agreement I have great confidence in because it represents a continuity and a local future for a company that has deep roots in the city of North Adams."
The agreement was signed with Stanley Black & Decker Inc., which became Tog's parent company after acquiring Nelson Fastener Systems of Ohio earlier this year for $440 million. Tog had become part of the Nelson Fastener family of companies in 2016.
The company was approved last month for a 21,000 square-foot addition to the current 24,900 square-foot building at Hardman Industrial Park. It estimates the investment at $3.5 million in building improvements, $2.6 million in equipment, and 28 new jobs by 2022. It currently employs 29.
Bernard said this was significant because there had been the possibility of Tog moving out of the area under different ownership.
"When Stanley came in and purchased the company they did so with the intent of investing in the facility here and in the local workforce," he said.
The mayor also noted that Tog, a precision machining company with both government and private-sector clients, has had a close relationship over the years with McCann Technical School. The company has offered internships that have helped prepare an educated manufacturing workforce.
The agreement will phase in the expected tax increase from improvements over the five years, beginning with an exemption of 80 percent of the increase in fiscal 2021 and then dropping by 20 percent a year until the full amount is being paid in fiscal 2025.
According to the agreement, the company is committed to invest up to $2.75 million in improvements, $1.85 million in capital equipment and create 20 full-time jobs by the end of fiscal 2024.
Should it fail to fulfill its investment and job creation goals, the city can request the TIF be decertified.
Tog currently pays more than $12,000 a year in property taxes and will continue to pay any personal property taxes. The mayor said it would be difficult to determine at this point how much the company would be saving because the new building isn't constructed to be assessed and the tax rate varies each year.
The councilors were strongly supportive of the plan, passing the agreement unanimously.
"If you look at the options that communities have to help with economic development growth, business, TIFs are one of the very opportunities we have to do that," said Councilor Benjamin Lamb. "I think that it's great because we're still getting the tax on the base valuation, which is key. It's not like they're suddenly not paying any taxes in the city of North Adams."
Councilor Eric Buddington, who has been critical of the way TIFs have been used in the past, approved of this one, saying, "this is one of the nicer ones I've seen. It's a very well-respected business. I like that it follows the standard formula where the taxes on increased property value are phased in evenly over five years."
It should, he said, be a standard for other eligible businesses in the city.
The councilors did, however, want annual updates on the progress of the company in meeting its contracted obligations, as well as reports on other current agreements.
"Reporting back to this council has not been consistent," Lamb said.
The agreement must now be approved by the Economic Assistance Coordinating Council before it can go into effect on July 1, 2019.
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Macksey Updates on Eagle Street Demo and Myriad City Projects
By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
The back of Moderne Studio in late January. The mayor said the city had begun planning for its removal if the owner could not address the problems.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Moderne Studio building is coming down brick by brick on Eagle Street on the city's dime.
Concerns over the failing structure's proximity to its neighbor — just a few feet — means the demolition underway is taking far longer than usual. It's also been delayed somewhat because of recent high winds and weather.
The city had been making plans for the demolition a month ago because of the deterioration of the building, Mayor Jennifer Macksey told the City Council on Tuesday. The project was accelerated after the back of the 150-year-old structure collapsed on March 5.
Initial estimates for demolition had been $190,000 to $210,000 and included asbestos removal. Those concerns have since been set aside after testing and the mayor believes that the demolition will be lower because it is not a hazardous site.
"We also had a lot of contractors who came to look at it for us to not want to touch it because of the proximity to the next building," she said. "Unfortunately time ran out on that property and we did have the building failure.
"And it's an unfortunate situation. I think most of us who have lived here our whole lives and had our pictures taken there and remember being in the window so, you know, we were really hoping the building could be safe."
Macksey said the city had tried working with the owner, who could not find a contractor to demolish the building, "so we found one for him."
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