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GREENSBORO — A plan to spend $1.3 million in county taxes on incentives for commercial development was finally released this week.

Steve Arnold, vice chairman of the Board of Commissioners who helped craft the plan, said it would help the mom-and-pop businesses that couldn’t tap incentives offered to larger businesses such as Dell or FedEx.

“There’s a short list that tells you why you’re qualified or unqualified,” Arnold said. Nearly any business not involved in residential development could apply.

Chairman Melvin “Skip” Alston said it would apply to smaller places.

“If Joe’s Garage is going to open another bay,” he said, then they could receive an incentive.

Qualified applicants would need to pay their taxes, wouldn’t build residential-zoned development and wouldn’t violate zoning or other county codes.
Arnold said 74 businesses would have qualified in 2008.

Commissioners will discuss the plan Aug. 20 and want public input.

Initially, the $1.3 million set aside for possible qualifying businesses in the 2009-10 budget drew fire from some commissioners.

Some of that language has softened.

“If it’s worth doing, then why not?” Commissioner Paul Gibson said Tuesday. He’d like an impartial third party, such as the UNC Institute of Government, to review the plan.

Gibson spoke against the expense during budget planning, saying he needed more information before he’d support it.

“This is the glue that kept Steve Arnold on the board to pass the budget,” Gibson said.

Arnold downplayed his role, though he had more information on the project than any other commissioner.

“This is Steve’s project, and he knows all the intricate details and 'why this?’ and 'why that?’” Alston said Tuesday.

An attorney from Nexsen Pruet helped draft the policy. Arnold said he believed the plan fit within state laws for public spending.

Incentives for larger companies have often been targeted by groups as unnecessary spending. In some cases the details of how those have been paid are difficult to find.

“We do have an out: The commissioners can always pull the plug,” Arnold said about oversight in the new plan. In Guilford County, the commercial incentives would be logged by the tax director, whose office handles property tax.

“You’re going to have to spend money,” Arnold said of the businesses that would qualify. “Just getting permitted is expensive, and this is a major investment for most.”

Contact Gerald Witt at 373-7008 or gerald.witt@news-record.com