Caledonia Argus

Mayor gives JOBZ thumbs down

Posted: 6/22/04

by Jane Palen
Managing editor

Caledonia Mayor Robert Burns voted against a JOBZ business subsidy for a project in Caledoniaís industrial park on the basis that the program unfairly favors out of state businesses.

The JOBZ program encourages business expansion and job creation in the state by offering tax abatements for up to 12 years. The abatements include corporate tax, property tax and sales tax. In exchange, the business must create at least one full-time job for each $20,000 of taxes abated. The wages must be at least $20,000 per year, including benefits.

Randy Klinksi has applied for a business subsidy and plans to move his business, Winona Controls, from his home in rural Caledonia to the Industrial Park in Caledonia. He currently has eight employees and will be adding two. The benefit of the tax abatement cannot exceed the monetary value of the new jobs created.

The mayor was particularly concerned that if a business comes in from out of state, all the jobs in that that business are considered new jobs for purposes of the JOBZ program. Burns said that it is possible for out-of-state companies to move into a JOBZ zone and get an unfair advantage over existing businesses because they would be eligible for larger tax abatements based on the number of jobs the business has.

ìThere is inequity,î said the Mayor. ìIf a company moves from out of state, they will reap many more benefits.î He emphasized that he was not against Klinskiís project in particular. The motion to approve passed 3-1 with Randi Vick, Mark Schiltz and Paul Fisch voting in the affirmative. Councilman John Klug was absent from the meeting.

Sanitary sewer line punctured

Three basements in the city flooded over the Sesquicentennial weekend in Caledonia, the result of a punctured sanitary sewer line and heavy rains which combined to overload the Sunnyside lift station.

The line was punctured by Steiger Construction, the firm which the city hired to install new underground electric lines. In plowing in one of the lines in the cityís industrial park, a sewer main was broken. The break wasnít noticed at the time, but became apparent after heavy rains fell and infiltrated the line.

At the meeting of June 14, City Clerk Robert Nelson said that Steiger is maintaining that the line wasnít located. However, he said, Tony Klug of the water and sewer department remembered marking that line on Good Friday. Mayor Burns said there is a rule that if digging doesnít occur within 10 days of a line being located, an order for a relocation must be issued.

ìItís up to the insurance companies to figure it out,î said Mayor Burns, adding that he believes the city should not be held responsible.

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