Officials praise ABC Labs tax incentive
City and county leaders said Boone County’s first Chapter 100 project was a success at the meeting of the Regional Economic Development Inc. board of directors.
ABC Laboratories was the first company to apply for the program in 2006. The agreement was signed in 2008.
The agreement required ABC Laboratories to retain 224 jobs and create 50 new jobs. In exchange the company would only pay 50 percent of their required property tax for a 10-year period — a tax incentive worth about $2.1 million.
Under the Chapter 100 program, governments issue bonds to pay for businesses to build and expand and collect payments from the business to pay back the bonds. The arrangement allows for a property tax break because during the abatement period the local government controls the property, which is turned over to the company at the end of the period.
ABC Laboratories is now EAG Laboratories after it was bought out by the company Eurofins.
REDI members said EAG had 370 employees by the time the tax abatement was over in May 2018, going well over the benchmark.
Boone County Southern District Commissioner Fred Parry said the project was a major success.
“Ten years later, It’s a success story,” Parry said. “They were able to complete the process, they paid off everything they owed. Now they are a full-fledged taxpaying member and paying full taxes like any other company.”
Parry says the program helps make Columbia competitive against other cities.
He said Boone County’s Chapter 100 policy will be modified within the next few months.
“Our concern is that this has to be a somewhat secretive process and sometimes when you do things behind the scenes that sort of compromises the integrity of the project,” Parry said. “We need to find a way to satisfy the business interest of those who are receiving the credits but also of the public who is deeply invested in these programs.”
The next Chapter 100 project in the works is Northwest Medical Isotopes, which was approved in September.
The company will work with the University of Missouri Research Reactor to create isotopes used in medical scanning.
Parry said construction has not started, but he expects the local project to be done within the next two years.
“It’s such a slow moving process because of all the federal regulations,” Parry said.
