Aurora Organic Dairy requests tax break from county

A Chapter 100 review panel will met Tuesday to discuss a new application for Chapter 100 bonds.

Chapter 100 bonds are a way to give several years of tax abatements on equipment and land to an entity. In the past 11 years, only three companies have been approved for Chapter 100 bonds: Kraft Heinz, Dana Light Axle Products and ABC Laboratories.

The panel discussed an application for a 75 percent abatement from Aurora Organic Dairy, a national organic milk and butter producer based in Boulder, Colorado.

On Monday night, the City Council unanimously approved selling 100 acres of land in north Columbia off Waco Road to Aurora. The company plans on making a $91 million investment in construction. The city will sell the land for $2 million with a $500,000 claw back provision where the city would take the $500,000 of the purchase and return it to the company if they meet certain employment marks each year.

The review panel is formed by the Boone County Commission and consists of a representative from each taxing jurisdiction that would be affected by the tax break, including the Columbia Public School district, Boone County Family Resources and the Boone County Public Library district. They have to meet before any formal request is submitted to Boone County.

During the meeting, Aurora Organic Dairy executives, including CEO Marc Peperza and President Scott McGinty, explained what the plan for Columbia would be and why the company chose Boone County.

Peperza and McGinty explained Columbia was a good choice because, among other things, it was geographically diverse, a manufacturing friendly community, and midway between their dairy farms and east coast customers.

The company does not have plans for a dairy farm. Instead, it would built a milk processing plant and cold storage facility that could be operational by late 2018. In three years, the company would create as many as 150 new jobs and the average salary would be $42,000.

A 75 percent abatement is pretty substantial but the general consensus of the Boone County taxing entities was initially favorable.

“At this point in time we aren’t receiving any taxes from that property,” said Robyn Kaufman with Boone County Family Resources. “The long-term future of this company being here over the long haul would really result in a greater benefit than the abatement for those few years.”

Kaufman was also impressed with the high average salary, which is much higher than the current average wage in Boone County.

“They seem like a company that really cares about the community and about their employees and are invested in that,” said Kaufman.

The taxing districts have not made any decisions and these are only initial thoughts. Kaufman said they will now head back to their respective boards and hear presentations from Regional Economic Development Inc. staff about the proposed abatement. REDI was key in vetting Aurora Organic Dairy before the Chapter 100 process began.

Ultimately the Boone County Commission would make the final decision.

The next meeting is scheduled for Feb. 21 at 3:30 p.m.