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Orion bids $44M for GM jobs
Township offers automaker incentives to build small cars at Oakland County plant
Robert Snell / The Detroit News
Orion Township has offered General Motors Corp. a $44 million deal to build its new small car there instead of in Wisconsin or Tennessee, a bold bid to stem the loss of auto industry jobs in a state battered by manufacturing losses.
Township officials are offering a 100 percent tax break on new machinery and equipment for up to 12 years, a deal that likely will be sweetened by a grant from the Michigan Economic Growth Authority, township Supervisor Matthew Gibb said. The township is working in conjunction with officials from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to finalize an incentive package.
The township is willing to forgive $44 million in future tax revenue in hopes of preserving the $2.7 million GM pays annually in local taxes.
It's a monster offer," Gibb said. "I struggled with it because we're talking about funds and public money is so tight for everybody. But if the plant closes, we don't get any tax revenue. I'd rather have the jobs and ancillary business for our small suppliers and big suppliers and party stores and everything else."
GM said it will make a site selection this month.
Its production goal is 160,000 vehicles annually, and it plans to add 1,200 jobs for the new small car plant.
A deal would be a coup for Orion Township and the state and would help offset job losses at seven Michigan plants GM intends to close in coming months.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office would not discuss the state's incentive package.
"We are waging an aggressive fight for this project and the jobs it will bring to Michigan and we're going to do everything we can to make this project a reality for our state," Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said. "The governor and the MEDC are fully engaged in this fight for jobs."
Between 2001 and 2007, GM received 10 tax credits from the state worth almost $72.9 million, more than any other company, according to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
More: http://www.detnews.com/article/20090613/AUTO01/906130321
Township offers automaker incentives to build small cars at Oakland County plant
Robert Snell / The Detroit News
Orion Township has offered General Motors Corp. a $44 million deal to build its new small car there instead of in Wisconsin or Tennessee, a bold bid to stem the loss of auto industry jobs in a state battered by manufacturing losses.
Township officials are offering a 100 percent tax break on new machinery and equipment for up to 12 years, a deal that likely will be sweetened by a grant from the Michigan Economic Growth Authority, township Supervisor Matthew Gibb said. The township is working in conjunction with officials from the Michigan Economic Development Corp. to finalize an incentive package.
The township is willing to forgive $44 million in future tax revenue in hopes of preserving the $2.7 million GM pays annually in local taxes.
It's a monster offer," Gibb said. "I struggled with it because we're talking about funds and public money is so tight for everybody. But if the plant closes, we don't get any tax revenue. I'd rather have the jobs and ancillary business for our small suppliers and big suppliers and party stores and everything else."
GM said it will make a site selection this month.
Its production goal is 160,000 vehicles annually, and it plans to add 1,200 jobs for the new small car plant.
A deal would be a coup for Orion Township and the state and would help offset job losses at seven Michigan plants GM intends to close in coming months.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm's office would not discuss the state's incentive package.
"We are waging an aggressive fight for this project and the jobs it will bring to Michigan and we're going to do everything we can to make this project a reality for our state," Granholm spokeswoman Liz Boyd said. "The governor and the MEDC are fully engaged in this fight for jobs."
Between 2001 and 2007, GM received 10 tax credits from the state worth almost $72.9 million, more than any other company, according to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
More: http://www.detnews.com/article/20090613/AUTO01/906130321
