County council OKs preliminary step in sign maker Proveli’s tax abatement proposal, would add 60 jobs
A Georgia-based company that recently bought local sign manufacturer Hall Signs is asking Monroe County for a tax abatement worth about a quarter million dollars.
In a preliminary step last Tuesday, Monroe County councilors gave the proposal a unanimous vote. The county council will likely take a final vote at its regular meeting next month, which falls on July 14.
Proveli, LLC is proposing to make about $4.5 million in capital investments over the next four years, adding 60 workers during the same period, who would earn a total of $2.3 million. Annual salaries for the workers—in fabrication, shipping, sales, and administration—would average around $39,000.
The tax abatement would be for both real and personal property at the site west of Bloomington on Vernal Pike, where the road jogs north for about a half mile.
Monroe County property records show that Proveli bought the Hall Signs property on Vernal Pike the day after Christmas in 2019 for $2,155,979.
The abatement would be for a 10-year period, with a decreasing tax break each year. In the first year, 100 percent of the taxes would be abated on the increased assessed value of the property due to the investments. Each subsequent year would see a decrease in the percentage of taxes that are abated. At the end of 10 years, the company would be paying 100 percent of the taxes normally owed.
For the 10-year period, on the real property, $341,400 would be owed, with $168,993 of that abated. On the personal property, $119,490 would be owed with $71,489 abated. So over the decade of the tax abatement, on the added assessment due to the company’s investments, about $460,890 in taxes would be owed. Of that amount, $220,408 would be paid.
It’s the same kind of proposal the county council recently approved for Ernest Health, Inc. to build a rehab hospital.
On Tuesday, county attorney Jeff Cockerill reviewed for county councilors the process involved. The economic development commission already met and gave the Proveli’s proposal a positive recommendation.
The county council’s unanimous vote on Tuesday, will be followed by consideration of the proposal by the county’s redevelopment commission (RDC), and the board of county commissioners.
The tax abatement will be in front of county councilors for final approval most likely at their July 14 regular meeting.
