Boone County Commission approves tax break for isotope plant

The Boone County Commission on Thursday approved a medical isotope manufacturer’s application for a 10-year property tax break.

The commission unanimously approved a request by Northwest Medical Isotopes for Chapter 100 bonds. The bonds allow the county to provide financing to help the company to build and supply its planned Columbia facility while giving it a 50 percent tax break on real estate and personal property taxes over the next 10 years.

As part of the agreement Northwest is required to employ at least 85 workers making the average county wage or higher.

The company first announced it would build a facility to create and ship the medical isotope known as Molly-99 in Columbia in 2014. The project was subject to the federal regulatory process, including a review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The plant will be built off Discovery Parkway in south Columbia. The isotope is used in medical imaging to detect diseases in the kidneys, lungs, heart and bones.

Several taxing districts that depend on property tax revenue in Boone County signed off on the Chapter 100 bonds last month.