GRAY – Town officials are trying to jump-start high-tech development in the Northbrook Business and Industry Campus off the Route 26 bypass by allowing the owner to use property taxes from future development to pay for the roads and sewers needed to attract it.

The tax increment financing district endorsed by town meeting voters in March would allow the owners of the industrial park to use future tax payments to help recoup $2.5 million already invested in infrastructure and the $1.8 million it will take to finish the improvements.

The only catch is that the developer can’t benefit from new tax revenue there until at least $3 million is invested in the park — roughly equivalent to developing two of the seven available lots — and until all roads and utilities are in place.

The Town Council last week voted to approve the legal framework of the deal, and residents will be asked to comment on it at a public hearing Tuesday.

“The people are overwhelmingly in favor of extending the TIF and making this happen,” said Councilor Matt Sturgis, referring to the town meeting support. “The minority opinion would have been that this is corporate welfare.”

Sturgis defended the arrangement as a public-private partnership designed to promote growth, both in the tax base and in jobs, which could help Gray thrive and keep it affordable.

The 90-acre park sits off the Route 26 bypass, which runs north from Exit 63 of the Maine Turnpike to Shaker Road north of town and represents one of the only access points to a 500-acre area of land designated for future business growth. The new agreement would allow access to the future-growth area through Northbrook.

While approving the TIF in March, residents voted down a spending plan aimed at planning and marketing the future-growth area. Though there are no development plans there now, the vote indicates reluctance by residents to endorse future development there.

The future-growth area is not the primary focus of the agreement, Sturgis said.

“More important is getting the park completed and getting new jobs for the community,” he said.

Enercon, an electronics designer and manufacturer, was the initial tenant in Northbrook, and its founders continue to develop it. Brigg’s Equipment Sales, which sells heating and air conditioning supplies, also is located there.

Enercon plans to develop a 30,000- to 35,000-square-foot expansion, relocating parts of its operation now in Auburn. That expansion could eventually employ 50 to 100 people, said George Thebarge, the town’s economic development consultant.

“This is starting to hopefully create some momentum in the business park,” said Thebarge. “High-tech attracts high-tech.”

The industrial park already benefits from a tax district approved in 1997, which was set to last until 2017. Under that arrangement, the $111,000 in annual property taxes now collected there is split 70-30: $77,000 is recouped by the developer to fund improvements at the park, and $34,000 goes to the town.

The new agreement, which was negotiated by the park owners and the Gray-New Gloucester Development Corp., would extend the district for another 10 years — to 2027 — and make other changes aimed at spurring investment there with a similar split in tax revenue.

The public hearing on the tax increment financing district will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers at the Henry Pennell Municipal Complex.

Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

dhench@pressherald.com

 

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