ABC Labs exceeds target job growth during tax break period
ABC Labs presented its final Chapter 100 performance report Thursday, revealing the company employs 372 people.
The number is well over the Columbia company’s initial target of 274 jobs as part of the deal struck with the Boone County Commission that allowed ABC Labs to receive a property tax break since 2008.
In an email, Boone County Presiding Commissioner Dan Atwill said the report “illustrates that partial tax abatement stimulates the creation of good jobs and long term business investment in the county.”
He said the agreement “worked as expected and has also produced significant salary payments, which, in large part, get spent in the community, generating more jobs and tax revenue.”
County Counselor CJ Dykhouse also called the project “a great success.” It marked the first Chapter 100 project sponsored by the Boone County Commission.
As part of the deal, the county took out bonds to purchase real estate and other property for ABC Labs’ expansion of its Discovery Ridge facility. In exchange, the company promised to create 50 new jobs in order to receive a 50 percent tax break on property taxes over a 10-year period.
Now that the abatement period is over, ABC Labs will have to pay the full property tax. The company will pay about $170,000 per year in property taxes at the current tax rate, according to figures provided by Boone County.