With a little help from the Knox County Area Partnership for Economic Development, the city of Galesburg obtained a new enterprise zone designation effective at the beginning of this year.
The city’s acting planning manager, Steve Gugliotta, describes enterprise zones as a geographically defined area where companies are eligible for incentives that encourage development of new and old businesses.
Gugliotta tells WGIL the businesses in the zones receive financial perks.
“If there are any improvements done onto an existing building or if a new building is constructed,” he says, “there would be a property tax abatement for 100 percent of the increase of the Equalized Assessed Value associated with the improvement.”
That abatement would be over a 10-year period. Other incentives include a 100 percent waiver of fees associated with construction permits as well as sales tax exemptions.
Gugliotta further says the recent approval by the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity for Galesburg’s enterprise zone expanded the boundaries of the special area to include the Sandburg Mall, the former Shopko/Jax store and the vacant Walmart building.
He says incentives could make those and other locations look more attractive for new businesses to open in addition to encouraging current businesses to redevelop.
