The Mayor’s Budget Review Committee approved introduction of legislation to amend the city’s economic development agreement related to the United Parcel Service shipping hub at 4420 Imeson Road.
The committee unanimously approved the amendent 7-0 on June 22.
The amendment would increase the city incentive package available to the Atlanta-based distribution company from $4.3 million to $6.8 million, based on additional capital investment and job creation.
City Council approved the original agreement and a Recaptured Enhanced Value Grant in 2017. The incentives related to the projected $196 million expansion of the Westside Industrial Park facility. By the end of 2019, UPS had invested about $173 million and continues to seek permits for work, according to the city.
Under the terms of the proposed amendment, UPS will complete $138 million in additional expansion, creating a total investment of $334 million over four years.
The amended investment comprises an additional $161 million in machinery, equipment, furniture and fixtures in the next four years.
The grant is calculated at 50% of the increase in real and personal property taxes generated at the project site for five years. To receive the grant, UPS must make a private capital investment of at least $300 million and create at least 240 jobs by the end of 2024.
Kirk Wendland, director of the city Office of Economic Development, said the office supports the amendment because UPS is “on their way to outperforming” the terms of the original agreement.
He said the city has not made any payment on the original grant to date.
Port dredging
The committee also voted 7-0 to send to Council a proposal to authorize borrowing $75 million for a bridge loan to JaxPort to complete the St. Johns River dredging project two years ahead of schedule.
The money will be used toward the final contract for the $484 million, 11-mile portion of the Jacksonville harbor deepening project from the Atlantic Ocean to the Blount Island Marine Terminal.