June 19, 2024 - IDB Grants PILOT Program to Cooper Steel

At Noon today, the Industrial Development Board of The City of Shelbyville, Tennessee 37160 met at the historic Bedford County Courthouse to consider a Payment-in-Lieu-of-Tax (PILOT) Program for Cooper Steel. The PILOT Program, which the board approved unanimously, freezes the property taxes on Cooper Steel’s property at the current rate of over $70,000 per year, as they undergo an $65 million expansion that will bring 139 new jobs, while also retaining 202 current jobs. This level of growth put them at the top level PILOT, based on the criteria setup by City Council in 2022. This means their property taxes will stay the same for 7 years and then gradually increase the following years until they are paying the full rate in year 14.

What does this PILOT Program translate to in real numbers? If the value of the property increases by the $65 million they are proposing to invest, their tax savings in the first 7 years will be $989,352 per year (combined county/city at current property tax rates) which is roughly $6.9 million over the first 7 years. That works out to $50,000 per job at 139 new jobs. There will be additional tax savings for the 6 years beyond that, but by that point tax rates and appraisals will have changed enough that it's hard to estimate those savings accurately.

Watch the entire meeting here: