PILOT fees fall far short of actual taxes
However, firms do ultimately start making large property tax contributions.
One of the tools in the local industrial recruitment toolbox is the ability to offer a company a break on property taxes through a Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT fee program. Instead of tax money going to either the city or county, PILOT fees are paid to the Rome-Floyd County Development Authority for a specified number of years.
“For companies with very substantial capital investments, it’s very important to them, and because everyone else does it, we would quickly be out of the running for a prospect if we didn’t have that incentive,” said Rome Floyd Chamber Economic Development Director Heather Seckman.
This year nine industries are making PILOT fee payments that will generate $364,993 for the authority, which in turn uses the money to further recruitment efforts. Lowe’s currently makes the largest PILOT payment at $78,125 annually.
“They’re just as important as taxes,” said Melinda Lemmon, director of the Cartersville-Bartow County Office of Economic Development about the PILOT fees program.
Eventually companies do come off of the PILOT programs and start paying property taxes.
Suzuki Manufacturing of America had an extended abatement on real property taxes when it opened over a decade ago, and was not paying property taxes until 2014 when they started with a real property — land and building — bill of $118,716.
Profile Extrusion, 100 Anderson Road, for example, came off a fiveyear plan this year for a major investment in new machinery.
The company paid $3,750 in PILOT fees annually, but this year paid the full freight in property taxes, amounting to $65,606.45 according to Floyd County Chief Appraiser Danny Womack.
Bekaert, F&P Georgia, International Paper, Kellogg, Neaton Rome and Syntec Industries are all currently on the PILOT program.
Seckman said the most recent use of funds from the PILOT fee program was for the production of drone footage of the 100acre, recently graded industrial site at the northwest corner of the intersection of Ga. 140 and Ga. 53 in Shannon.
In order to qualify for a PILOT inducement, Seckman said a company must meet a series of five criteria, which includes a significant capital investment: creation of jobs — typically a minimum of ten new jobs for a new industry, a minimum pay plan of $10.50 an hour, they must offer employees a health care package and must also offer a retirement package. If a company meets those criteria, they would qualify for the PILOT plan, which provides they pay an amount equal to oneeighth of one percent of their capital investment.