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The Center Square [By Jon Styf] –
The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development plans to buy $20.5M of property in Coffee County next fiscal year to have a new 1,900-acre site for development.
The site purchase is part of the department’s request for $227 million in non-recurring spending increases and a $27 million recurring spending increase presented to the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee on Tuesday.
Sen. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, said he felt like that sounded like a high price for the Coffee County property but TNECD Commissioner Stuart McWhorter said it is a flat property, near the interstate and it is exercising an option on the property from a deal that has been setup for years.
“There is going to be infrastructure spending required for the site,” McWhorter said, but no additional spending is planned at the site at this point.
McWhorter explained states acquire sites to prepare them for future manufacturing projects, like Ford’s Blue Oval City at the state megasite outside of Memphis. The state pays to prepare infrastructure on a site that can then be moved into quicker by potential businesses.
In the case of the Memphis Megasite, Ford committed to a $5.6 billion project to build electric F-150 trucks at the site and the state then committed to $884 million in additional incentives for Ford.
In Gov. Bill Lee’s budget proposal, it was noted TNECD is recommended to receive an additional $340 million in funds this year for its FastTrack grant program and the TNECD is also asking for $103M for the program next fiscal year.
Overall, TNECD asked for $254.8 million in budget increases for next year. The committee voted to approved the presentation Tuesday before it goes to the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee.
About the Author: Jon Styf, The Center Square Staff Reporter – Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies. Follow Jon on Twitter @JonStyf.
