The Corvallis City Council has approval of a 2 Towns Ciderhouse enterprise zone on its Monday night agenda. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. and can be watched remotely.
Forbidden Fruit, LLC, also known as 2 Towns Ciderhouse, is buying a new bottling line for more capacity. The enterprise zone application asks for three years of full relief from property taxes on the new bottling line and associated new equipment, which is estimated to cost $3,510,000.
Enterprise zones are an economic development tool that exempts businesses from local property taxes on new investments for a specified amount of time. NPR reported that the zones are a new take on an old idea that came to the U.S. from Britain in the 1980s, part of the search for solutions to aid poverty-stricken areas. There are some critics of the approach.
City staff approve of the application and recommend that the city council approves as well. If the council votes to approve the application, the Benton County Commissioners will review it and hold a subsequent vote. The vote is scheduled to happen Nov. 24.
The estimated exemption amount comes to $149,500 for three years of tax abatement, according to Patrick Rollens, City of Corvallis public information officer. Rollens said the city’s portion of that is 33%, which is around $49,335 total over the three years. After that, the full value of the new equipment would be taxed.
INFOBOX
Canning Line Upgrade Budget
Item Projected Cost
Krones Canner $939,772.37
Krones Tunnel Pasteurizer $601,176.16
Conveyors $663,430
DMM Cartoner $425,914.47
Ska Fabrication Twist Rinser $44,940
Boiler $147,267
Pallet Wrapper $17,500
Can Depalitizer $50,000
Cascade Floors $15,000
Utility Infrastructure $605,000
Total $3,510,000
By Cody Mann