Cape County to consider issuance of $300M in bonds for P&G expansion

Cape Girardeau County commissioners today will consider an ordinance allowing the county to issue $300 million in bonds to help fund an expansion at Procter & Gamble's Cape Girardeau County plant to bring up to 200 construction jobs and 35 full-time positions.

In an effort to help secure the project for the county, last month the Cape Girardeau County Commission approved a resolution of intent to issue industrial development bonds to finance the project for Procter & Gamble.

The resolution passed on a 2-0 vote with commissioners Paul Koeper and Clint Tracy casting votes in favor. Commissioner Jay Purcell was absent.

Chapter 100 of Missouri statutes allows counties, cities and other municipalities to issue bonds to finance the costs of industrial development projects for private corporations. Government entities can issue bonds at a lower interest rate than conventional financing corporations could receive. As long as the bonds are outstanding, the company can receive tax abatements, resulting in a significant savings. Chapter 100 bonds also allow for a sales tax exemption on construction materials for the project.

The county's most recent use of Chapter 100 bonds was in June 2011 when the county issued $25 million in bonds for Nordenia's Hubble Creek Plant in the Jackson Industrial Park off U.S. 61.

The taxing entities affected by the Procter & Gamble bonds include the Jackson School District, Fruitland Fire District, Riverside Regional Library, the Cape County Board for Developmental Disabilities and the state government. Countywide property taxes for mental health, county health and senior citizens will also be affected.

Jackson school superintendent Ron Anderson has said he supports the expansion project and is comfortable with the tax abatement schedule.

As long as the bonds are outstanding, the companies benefiting from them can receive tax abatements. In the bond project currently under consideration, P&G will receive tax abatements worth $19,424,491 over the 25 years it has to pay back the bonds, according to the industrial development project plan prepared by the SEMO Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission.

This plan was sent to the taxing entities affected and County Commisioner Paul Koeper said none of them have come to the county to express any objections to the proposal.

Koeper said other plants are competing for this expansion and the county's tax incentives will help secure the project for Cape Girardeau.

"I don't think we're 100 percent, but we're getting closer to being 100 percent sure it is going to be here," he said.

mmiller@semissourian.com

388-3646

Pertinent address:

14484 State Highway 177, Cape Girardeau, MO