Tax Realty Consultant

The property tax incentives are just part of a package that was designed through cooperation from the state Department of Community and Economic Development, Montgomery County Commissioners and Lower Salford officials to entice Northern Ireland-based Almac Group, a pharmaceutical support company, to construct its 240,000-square-foot headquarters in the township’s Light Industrial district at Fretz and Wambold roads.
The temporary property tax reductions come through the creation of a “deteriorated area” on Almac’s land that will qualify for the tax incentives through the Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance Act (LERTA).
When Almac finishes its Lower Salford headquarters, the property will be reassessed. That reassessment determines what the new property taxes on that property will be - and it is only that difference relating to the improvements on the property that Almac will receive a break from on property taxes. The company will still pay the full amount of property tax on the value of the land itself.
The tax relief comes on a sliding scale over the first ten years, with the bulk of the relief scheduled in the first five years. The schedule is set up that, if the LERTA district is approved, Almac would have a 100 percent exemption from real estate tax on the improvements in the first year, 95 percent the second year and dropping five percent each year until the sixth year. In the sixth year, the exemption on the improvements will be 50 percent, 20 percent in the seventh year, 15 percent in the eighth year, 10 percent in the ninth year and 5 percent in the final year.
At the Dec. 5 meeting, representatives for Almac explained the ten-year system was set up the way it was through negotiations with the Souderton Area School District, which receives the bulk of property taxes. The district expects that increases in student enrollment over the next several years will result in the district needing to build a new elementary school in approximately the fifth year of the agreement with Almac, so the district hoped that the tax revenue would begin to increase heavily at that point.
While Almac is just one building in the township, Dan Green of PricewaterhouseCoopers, consultant to Almac, explained that the tax benefit to the township and the school district will be immediately noticeable. Currently, the 40 acres where Almac will be located pays just $212 in taxes between property tax, Local Services Tax and Earned Income Tax to the township and about $2,100 in taxes to the school district. Green said during construction, that amount is expected to jump to $3.1 million for the township alone. Tom Bowen of Stevens & Lee, attorney for Almac, said the land is expected to be assessed at about five times what it is currently even before the building is constructed.
The first year of the LERTA tax incentives begin when the property can be reassessed by the Montgomery County Board of Assessment, which is typically when a Use & Occupany permit is issued.
Almac has just recently submitted its formal plans for land development, which will need to go through discussions and two levels of approval from both the township planning commission and board of supervisors. The first scheduled meeting before the planning commission will be Dec. 19 at 7:30 p.m., said Township Manager Del Plank.
Bowen said the company aims to have construction under way within the next calendar year - 2008 - with the hopes of having partial occupancy approval for some of its administration to move to the new building in January 2010.
Almac has existing offices in Yardley and Audubon, but the plans for the Lower Salford headquarters, which will be completed in phases, will combine those offices into a new headquarters site for the company. The move is expected to create 400 new jobs by 2013, including 262 new jobs within three years, including software development and laboratory specialists, and would retain the 495 existing positions the company has in Pennsylvania.
In addition to the LERTA designation, Almac also worked with the Montgomery County Industrial Development Corporation and local officials to secure a $9.03 million funding offer from the state Department of Community and Economic Development. That includes a $4.5 million grant through infrastructure and facilities improvement program to be disbursed over 10 years, a $2 million Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority loan, a $1.25 million grant through the infrastructure development program, a $400,000 opportunity grant, $100,000 in customized job training funds and $786,000 in job creation tax credits, according to a press release from Gov. Ed Rendell’s office.
“We’re just thrilled they’re going to be here, and I think the commonwealth’s equally happy,” said Plank.
Residents at the meeting that live near the Almac property questioned dates for construction, planning processes and how whether or not the use posed any danger to residents or the environment. Michael Bacon, vice president of finance for Almac, said the vast majority of what the company does is packaging services for materials undergoing trials, and the work is not heavily industrial or dangerous to citizens or the environment.
“The most activity you would see is individuals standing at tables packaging drugs,” said Bacon, who said the facility will also include some production lines. Bacon said the majority of drugs that come into the facility are already sealed in capsules or foil packaging.
Bacon said Almac is ranked number one in its field in Europe, but only about third or fourth in the United States. The goal of the expansion and new headquarters is to bring the company to number one in its field in the United States as well, Bacon said.
Township officials noted that the Almac use does not require any zoning change and is permitted in the Light Industrial district where the land is located.
Salford officials approve tax exemption

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19108185&BRD=1306&PAG=461&dept_id=187822&rfi=6

Appeal Realty Tax

Winnipeg Polo Park Motel Hotels Deals

www.realtytaxconsultant.com