Volkswagen Initially Pays Only School Tax in Property Tax

Volkswagen To Initially Pay Only School Tax, Will Be Given 1,350 Acres
Work Set To Begin This Fall On Huge Automotive Plant
posted on Chattanoogan.com on July 16, 2008

Volkswagen will be initially paying only the school portion of the county property tax levy as one of the incentives to get the major carmaker to invest $1 billion in Hamilton County.

County Executive Claude Ramsey said Volkswagen will be paying full property taxes after about 30 years.

Volkswagen will be given 1,350 acres at the Enterprise South Industrial Park site, though the company will not get full title to the land until a period of time, Mr. Ramsey said.

He stated, "If you are not willing to give the land as part of the incentives, you don't get much conversation."

Mr. Ramsey said a training facility for the VW workers will be built at Enterprise South with involvement by Chattanooga State, UTC and the Southeast Tennessee Development Agency. He said he did not know the cost.

He said the training center may not be on the 1,300 acres, but elsewhere at Enterprise South.

Government officials pledged to clear the 1,300 acres and put in infrastructure for Volkswagen, and that task is well underway.

Mr. Ramsey said a "dry branch" that now goes through the 1,300 acres will be rerouted. He said the streambed had initially been moved for the old TNT plant and it now will be put back to its original location.

Mr. Ramsey said he expects the plant will start going up by this fall.

He said he did not know who Volkswagen will use as the prime contractor, but he said, "There will be plenty of opportunities for local contractors and subcontractors."

Mr. Ramsey said an unusual combination of city and county workers as well as private contractors helped clear the 1,300 acres of trees in the past few weeks.

He said a Volkswagen official mentioned that the site team "needed to see the site." He said he contacted Mayor Ron Littlefield, telling him, "We've got two of the biggest construction teams in the county."

He said both forces were sent to the site and they have been working at a feverish pace.

He said the county paid for the private contractors using emergency purchasing procedures.

Mr. Ramsey said he often visited the work site and "I saw a spirit among these workers that they were working for the future of this community." He said there was "a unique spirit of cooperation."

The county executive, who received a standing ovation at the County Commission meeting Wednesday for his key part in making the Volkswagen plant possible, said he almost did not run for re-election two years ago.

But he said he wanted to see the BEP school formula changed and to land a major tenant at Enterprise South.

Mr. Ramsey said work will speed up on connecting the new I-75 freeway exchange to the industrial park and on through to Highway 58. He said a new road will be built on the other side of the freeway to Collegedale. He noted that hundreds of trucks travel from the McKee Baking plant.

Mr. Ramsey said steps are also underway on widening Bonny Oaks Drive leading from I-75 to entrances to the industrial park.

He said Volkswagen officials have inquired about taking even more land - in addition to the 1,300 acres.

He said that tract is large enough for the main plant and for suppliers. "It's a huge area," he said.

Volkswagen will initially produce 175,000 cars per year when the plant opens in early 2011, but eventually wants to build a million cars a year in America.