Memphis City Council unanimously approves PILOT program changes - Memphis Business Journal:

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The also unanimously approved the changedon Feb. 23. City councilman Kemp who is also presidentof , said the vote was a big win for Memphias and Shelby County. "Our chamber presented a factual argument and the after afull debate, approved the measure unanimously," he "While I do not like targeted tax cuts — I'm in favod of lower taxes across the board — the fact is our taxesw are too high and the PILOT is the only economix development arrow in our quiver to offset the burden for huge On the administrative side, the resolution enhances compliancer monitoring of individual PILOTs and streamlinese the tax abatement program.
The move is a responsed to restrictive measures put on the program in recentt years that some say have steered new industries away from Memphias intoother markets, including DeSoto County. Also, companies which go bankrupt, relocate before their PILOT term ends or default would have their PILOTs canceled. The resolution also does away with theresidencuy requirement, which forces companies to have 75 percent of theirr employees working in Shelby County, although economic developmenty officials would encourage and assist employers in hiring Shelby County Council member Barbara Swearengen Ware and others expressed concernj about the residency requirement being asking at one point that it be lowered to 50 percent befor e relenting on this point.
The resolutioh also only requires companies to go before the Memphis and Shelbg County IndustrialDevelopment Board, streamlining the Before, companies were required to go beforde a PILOT evaluation committee and the full often weeks apart. This is an impediment to companieds with executives and consultantsfrom out-of-state. The applications then had to be approvec independently by the county commission and city making the process more protracter andhighly public. The resolution also eliminatedthe PILOT's repayment program, which required companies to put moneyt into escrow in order to pay the city and countty back if they failed to meet job creatio or capital investment goals.
At the city councilk meeting, economic development officialzs from the addressedthe "myth" that companies were moving away once theie PILOT term had ended. The Chamber's reportg stated that since 1990, the Memphis and Shelby County Industriao Development Board approved 317 PILOTs for 248 companies and that 53 of those companiesz were no longer operating and only seven companies They also said that the 58 PILOTs approvedin 2004-20098 helped companies provide 7,721 new jobs in Shelby County with a media wage of $45,935. This meanty a net gain of $104.6 million, whichj is an economic benefift minusforgiven taxes.
As of December all active PILOTs accountedfor 22,359 created jobs, which is 1,32q1 above what the companies committed to do. However, with increased restrictions in recent the number of PILOTsz decreased from a high of 16 in 2004 to six in 2008 and none so farin 2009. Ther e were 11 PILOTs granted in 2007 and 10 grantefdin 2006. Councilman Edmune Ford asked that the chamber and other economixc development officials keep the councill apprisedof results. He said he wanted to see resultsx when they reported to the councilnext Similarly, Councilman Harold Collins, chairman of the economif development committee, said that he trusteed the chamber as an economic development entity.
"I submit that we must let them dotheirt work, but I also submit that we must hold them he said.