by Tom Birdwell,
The school district was informed today by GM that deal is DEAD.
[GM was seriously considering Monroe Commerce Park]
They could not make the ecomomic case for it here vs other options. Given that it was a "lock" at the first proposal, and later in the city meeting,
I assume our demands for additional cash made us more expensive than the next best offer. I don't see their not coming as a bad thing, but their choosing not to come is a bit troubling. It should be kept in mind as one data point in terms of knowing the market for our local property.
Yes. Now that the GM proposal is canceled I suppose there is no harm in sharing the numbers openly. From the beginning, GM offered up front and annual payments to the district.
The last I saw was $250,000 up front, and $30,000 per year donated to the districts permanent improvement fund, as well as full tax payments on the land, but not buildings. Despite being called a 100% abatement, because of the up front money and annual payments, the GM dollars worked out to be about the same as a 50% abatement.
About: Tom Birdwell is a local school board member for Monroe Local Schools. He is also President of the School Board for Butler Tech.
For more info:
The Deal was to build two GM facilities in Monroe
#2 Company wants 100% Tax Abatement