August 29, 2008

Mobile County approves incentives for ThyssenKrupp steel plant

It is reported that Mobile County residents recently voted to support a plan to use up to USD 156.9 million of road building funds to pay off incentives for a new steel mill. The money will come from the county's Pay As You Go fund and will be spent over 30 years to pay USD 70 million in bonds that will be sold to pay the county's incentives to ThyssenKrupp AG.

Mr Stephen Nodine commission president said that he was pleased the referendum passed with such a large margin. The people realized it was a sound investment. He said it had not passed the county would have had to tap into its general fund, which pays for things like the Sheriff's Department and jail operations. He also added that the use of this fund will continue to allow us to build better roads and bridges.

In addition to the USD 70 million, Mobile County also could be on the hook for another USD 13.5 million. The county is supposed to set up a consortium of other local governments to come up with that money, but so far no other agencies have promised a specific amount.

According to Mr Matt McDonald bond attorney the county needs to take several steps before it can sell the bonds. He said it must file a validation lawsuit so investors can be sure there are no legal issues surrounding the vote. County officials will then get insurance and a bond rating and should be able to sell the bonds by the end of the year.

ThyssenKrupp will build a USD billion plant in the north part of the county that will employ 8,000 workers a year during a three ear construction phase and then 2,700 once the plant is in operation.