Alamance County’s administrators have released the details of a corporate incentives request that the board of commissioners has agreed to consider next week on behalf of Lotus Bakeries.
According to county officials, Lotus has asked the commissioners for a sum of $600,000 over five years to offset the cost of a $60 million expansion of a facility that it already operates at the North Carolina Industrial Center (NCIC) in Mebane.
The Belgian confectioner, which is best known for its Biscoff brand sugar cookies, originally set up shop at the NCIC after the commissioners approved an incentives package for a new $55.3 million bakery in the summer of 2016. Two years later, the company requested that its cumulative subsidies be increased by $262,000 after it announced that the plant’s anticipated tax value had been readjusted to $72.7 million.
The new investment represents more than an 80 percent expansion in the value of the plant – and its tax value for both the county and the city of Mebane.
Lotus’ latest proposal concerns the anticipated addition of facilities and equipment that are expected to add another $60 million to the plant’s taxable value.
The county’s announcement confirms figures first reported in The Alamance News last week: a $60 million investment, with $600,000 being asked from the county and a like amount from the city of Mebane. (The Mebane amount, which is typically similar to the county’s amount, has not yet been confirmed by official sources.)
According to county officials, the company also plans to expand its workforce in Mebane by 86 full-time employees with an average salary of $43,510 a year.
The board of commissioners has agreed to hold a public hearing on this request on Monday, April 19 at 7:00 p.m.
See earlier coverage from last week’s edition: https://alamancenews.com/breaking-mon-lotus-bakeries-in-mebane-to-expand-again/
