Tax Abatement Wording Tightened
At the suggestion of Commissioner Marck Schafer, the Glasscock County Commissioners’ Court on Sept. 9 decided to consider more specific guidelines for creating reinvestment zones and evaluating tax abatement agreements. At a subsequent meeting Oct. 10, (Michael Hoch absent) County Judge Wilburn Bednar read language that he and Schafer had drafted, and the court approved the revised abatement criteria.
The guidelines now require that a reinvestment zone ‘…contribute to retention or expansion of employment or attract major investment in the zone that would significantly increase the county tax base (i.e.$1 million on or more)….” The court felt the $1 million stipulation would be sufficient to eliminate any frivolous requests for tax abatements. Commissioners agreed that the purpose of any abatement is to increase both employment and the county’s tax base.
Second Wind Farm Planned in County
The county is prepared to grant abatements to Renewable Energy of Austin for a wind farm project to be built on some 16,000 leased acres in the northeast part of the county. Bednar said the project is supposed to contain 33 wind turbines, use 125 temporary workers during construction and provide 4 to 6 permanent, high-tech jobs.
Schafer said equipment backlogs and a shortage of concrete are slowing the construction process on wind farms.
Commissioners voted to leave the county’s employee retirement plan unchanged from last year,
Bednar again noted that two fire trucks are still not stored inside, and a fire department water truck still has no guardrails, and is therefore not usable. He said as soon as there is a freeze, the fire hazard in the county will be high. He also said unless the local fire departments have someone who is trained to use the Forest Service donated pumper truck, it should be sent somewhere else where it can be used, in spite of the several thousand dollars the county has put into it.
Schafer reported that flooring at the Drumright voting house needs replacing due to water leaks, and that the trailer at the west dump is also leaking and needs repair.