(Spencer)– The city of Spencer and Shine Brothers Corporation have reached an agreement to assist with an expansion project.
The Spencer city council met in special session Monday evening to discuss a request made by Shine Brothers for a 10-year tax rebate for a 600-thousand dollar expansion of their facility on East Park Street. They’re planning to build a new 4,800-square foot office on 10th Avenue East and expand an existing building to make room for a new shop.
During an hour-long discussion Monday evening, City Manager Dean Torreson told the council he has reservations about giving an industrial expansion Tax Increment Financing, saying it could set a political precedent. The city’s use of TIF in the past has been mainly to build new publicly-owned streets and sewers to make a particular expansion project possible, or that will lead to more industrial growth in the future.
Toby Shine, owner of Shine Brothers Corporation, told the council it would be a win-win situation for both the city and his company. He said the motivation for the request is to ease the traffic congestion on East Park Street.
The main sticking point among council members was over the length of the tax rebate being requested. Several wondered if the 10 years requested by Shine would be too long. After further discussion, the council opted to go with a seven-year rebate schedule. A public hearing on the matter will be held at an upcoming meeting.
As part of the deal, Shine assurred the council the expansion will create a minimum of 10 new jobs over those seven years.
(Story from Danielle Hitchings of sister station KDWD Hot 100 in Spencer.).
