By Howard Packowitz
The latest local government to consider property tax breaks in exchange for hundreds of manufacturing jobs is delaying action on the proposal.
The Normal Township Board of Trustees wants more time to consider the agreement with Canada’s Brandt Industries and will meet again in special session next Wednesday.
Trustee Ray Ropp noted the Unit 5 School Board and the McLean County Board have already signed off on the agreement.
Ropp wanted an immediate vote, countering Trustee Arlene Hosea’s desire to wait.
“You’re basically saying that you don’t have any respect for their judgment,” said Ropp.
“No, I’m saying I wasn’t elected to follow what they do,” Hosea responded.
“I was elected to have a mind of my own and work with the electorate I represent,” she added.
Township Supervisor Sarah Grammer acknowledged the community absolutely needs the jobs that would come with the manufacturing plant, which would be located at the current Kongskilde factory between Normal and Hudson.
Brandt would make attachments for John Deere tractors at the site.
Grammer is worried businesses will demand full abatements from local governments, and she noted the township’s budget comes primarily from property taxes.
A spokesman for the Bloomington-Normal Economic Development Council said the delay in the Township Board’s vote is not a setback for the deal.
Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]
