The Jefferson City Council will consider an agreement with a local company to pay $100,000 in exchange for easements and to provide a resolution for potential litigation.
A bill being introduced Monday would authorize the city to pay $100,000 to Alpla. In exchange, the city would receive needed sewer and rail easements promised to accommodate the incoming Morris Converting, but it also will resolve issues with a tax exemption.
In July, Alpla representatives met with the city's Finance Committee to request an exemption to the gross utility tax. At the time, Drew Hilpert, interim city administrator and city attorney, said the city used to offer exemptions to manufacturers on gross utility tax revenues paid, capping the tax at $15,000 per year per utility service.
But the exemption was cut off last year by the City Council and the only manufacturing businesses allowed to receive the exemption are those who received it before Nov. 15, 2012.
Alpla representatives had said the company had been in discussions with the city before the November date, though those talks stalled early this year.
Hilpert said Thursday that Alpla would agree not to seek any future exemption in exchange for the $100,000 payment.
Hilpert said, if approved, half of the funds could come from the capital improvements sales tax, to cover the easement costs, with the other half coming from the city's fund balance to cover the settlement costs.
In other business, Bill Betts, interim finance director, will give the city's monthly finance report Monday.
The City Council will meet at 6 p.m. Monday at City Hall.