By Bill Robinson
Senior News Writer
BEREA — Berea is one of three cities in the running for an industrial plant that would employ 100 to 200 people at wages comparable to that paid by employers already in the city’s industrial park, Tom McCay, Berea’s economic development director, told the city council Tuesday night. The prospect has expressed serious interest in the building that housed the Panasonic plant, which closed a year ago this month, he said. The competition is down to Berea, another Kentucky city and one in a bordering state, McCay said. If the prospect chooses Berea, it wants the city to divert to the employer half of the 2-percent occupational license fee its workers would normally pay the city. State law authorizes the city to offer the diversion as an incentive to employers recruited by the Kentucky Economic Development Cabinet. The local incentive would be in addition to any incentive the state would offer and would remain in effect for 10 years. McCay said was unsure if the other Kentucky city competing for the plant had authorized a similar incentive or what the out-of-state city could offer. All seven council members present voted for a resolution authorizing McCay to offer the incentive to the prospect or any other that may express interest in relocating to Berea. Council member Ronnie Terrill was absent. “This (authorization) gives Mr. McCay another tool to help him attract good paying jobs to Berea,” said City Administrator Randy Stone. McCay said he had been impressed with the amount of interest expressed in the vacant former Panasonic plant. Six prospects have visited the site in the 12 months it has been available, he said. In other business: • The council heard first reading of an ordinance to amend the city budget, reflecting an anticipated $300,000 decline in occupational license fee collections for the fiscal year. This year and last, the collections will have fallen by $500,000, Stone said after the meeting. The tax on all insurance premiums except health insurance has made up for the loss, he said. The insurance tax likely would be able to make up any further decline, however. Occupational license fee collections, or payroll tax as it is commonly known, have leveled off in the past three months, Stone said. That is unusual, because they typically fall in the winter. That bit of good news was tempered by a 35 percent rise in the cost of claims filed against the city employees’ health insurance plan the previous 12 months. The current provider, Bluegrass Family Health, along with United, Humana and Anthem, were expected to submit bids to provide coverage for the coming year, Stone said. Given the rising claims, he suggested that costs could go up. • Workers began assembling the components of the city’s $64,000 skate park Tuesday, Stone said. The work could be completed this week and the park could be opened to the public in the near future. • The council authorized the mayor to open in his office at 4 p.m. April 1 bids for sod to cover ball fields in the new park expansion. If the council waited until its April 6 meeting to open the bids, sod could not be in place until up in May, Stone said. Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmond register.com or at 624-6622.
