Spartanburg County (S.C.) Council members unanimously gave second reading approval recently to an ordinance tied to tax breaks for Benteler Automotive. While the agreement till requires a final reading before being made official, it involves an investment by Benteler of between $38 million and $48 million to expand and improve the company's facility near Duncan, reports The Post & Courier.
Headquartered in Austria, Benteler International works with automotive technology, mechanical engineering and the energy sector. The Spartanburg County facility is a supplier for numerous manufacturers in the state.
Spartanburg County Council Vice Chairman David Britt, who chairs the county's Economic Development Committee, said it’s great the company is re-investing in the community. “It’s just digging their roots deeper in Spartanburg,” Britt said.
Certain infrastructure credits that the company can claim against its payments of fees-in-lieu-of taxes are part of the tax break given to it by the county. Generally, fees-in-lieu-of-taxes — or FILOT — agreements replace a company’s property taxes with an annual flat fee.