SCDA releases MOU with SungEel outlining incentives

SungEel Recycling Park Georgia, LLC, the Korean-based lithium battery recycler that has purchased property in the Hayestone Brady Industrial Park to locate a new recycling facility, will pay ad-valorem taxes on the property this year – the first time the county has collected taxes on the property for many years, since the Stephens County Development Authority, like other Development Authorities in Georgia, do not pay taxes on property they own.

The company will, however, receive a tax abatement in the coming years as part of the incentive package that is now completed and on record with the Stephens County Development Authority. 

SCDA President and CEO Brittany Ivey explained that incentive packages to incite business into Georgia and into specific communities, are not the same as the aggressive incentives offered in years past.

She explained that, unlike development trends in the recent past, SungEel paid full price for the property in Hayestone Brady, and will be paying taxes on the property this year.

Regarding the local incentives agreed to in the MOU, Ivey said that it is not technically a loss since the county is not collecting any taxes on the property now.

That being said, she explained that for a short period of time, the company will received tax abatements on a declining schedule, paying 0 percent in year one of operation, 20 percent in year 2, and adding another 20 percent each year till year six of operation, when they will again be paying 100% of the taxes due.

That tax abatement incentive, however, is legally tied, through the MOU, to financial investment levels and employment figures, Ivey explained.

Ivey said that the agreement is a good one for the county, and explained that local incentives are necessary for the state to offer incentives. She said that without those incentives – both state and local – Stephens County would not have even been in the running for the development, as the company would most likely have chosen another location.

In addition to the county incentives by way of tax abatements, the city has agreed to waive tap fees for city utilities, but in exchange, the MOU requires that the company obtain utilities, where possible, through the city. 

As earlier reported by WNEG News, The MOU between SungEel and the State of Georgia, signed April 17 of this year, stipulates that a “REBA Grant in the amount of $700,000 will be awarded to SungEel through the Stephens County Development Authority.”

REBA Grant funding comes from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs, and according to GDCA documentation, “REBA is an incentive program that is used to help ‘close the deal’ when companies are considering Georgia and another state or country for their location or expansion. REBA funds may be used to finance various fixed-asset needs of a company including infrastructure, real estate acquisition, construction, or machinery and equipment.”

Stay tuned to WNEG News tomorrow as we begin a multi-part series on questions regarding facility safety and other concerns that WNEG posed to SungEel officials earlier this month, and their responses.

(Executed) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) – Stephens (SCDA) – SungEel – 2023(97877629.1) (1)