The Liberty County Development Authority (LCDA) is a constitutional authority created in 1958 to “develop and promote for the public good industry within Liberty County.”
Our goal is to create, attract, and retain jobs and secure investments to expand the tax base and increase the standard of living for our residents. Achieving that requires meeting industry leadership’s requirements to choose Liberty County, support that business’s success, and protect the community’s interests.
LCDA has done that by recruiting businesses looking for new locations, supporting established industries, and providing developed industrial parks, available sites, and buildings with roads, rail, water, sewer, or other required utilities or infrastructure.
More than 600 people are employed in Midway Industrial Park. More than 1,500 are employed in Tradeport East with 145 new jobs being added in the year ahead.
In addition to creating these jobs, which provide livelihoods, put food on tables, and send kids to school, these businesses contribute to the local tax base. Recruiting industry in competitive site selection searches most often requires tax incentives, and the return to the community can be significant.
The Target Distribution Center is a good example. Many communities wanted the project when Liberty County won it in 2007. The company committed to creating 500 jobs and now employs more than 800 people. Taxes on real property (land and buildings) were abated for 15 years, and personal property taxes (furniture and equipment) were abated for 10 years.
Before LCDA acquired the property, it was valued at $576,310 and would have paid an average of approximately $8,661 per year in taxes. This means the total estimated loss of tax revenue over 15 years was $129,917. The tax assessor’s office determines valuations and taxes due, but with both abatements now expired, LCDA estimates the total gain to the county to be roughly $1.5 million in real and personal property taxes every year.
I would make that investment any day and LCDA will continue pursuing opportunities like it. We will work to attract businesses with jobs paying livable wages, low environmental impacts, and high returns to the tax digest.
LCDA is in the middle of a strategic planning process, and many community leaders, businesses, and residents have shared their hopes for the future of Liberty County through one-on-one interviews, focus groups, and surveys. If you have not yet participated, we invite you to visit our website at www.comegrow.global and click the link for our resident survey.
We look forward to sharing our plan for the next three-to-five years with the community in January.
Brynn Grant is the chief executive officer of the Liberty County Development Authority.