3M incentive plan: Lee County

The Lee County Board of Commissioners on Monday will host a public hearing, discuss and vote on an incentives package for 3M, which is located at the Simpson Industrial Park in Sanford and employs about 180 people.

3M is proposing a project that will add new equipment to the building’s film coating facility and building renovations to accommodate the new equipment.

Details of the incentives package were laid out in an e-mail from County Manager John Crumpton that wasn’t delivered until either Thursday or Friday (I received my copy Friday). The fact that details on a major incentive were not made public until 3-4 days before a public hearing has many upset, and very understandably so.

The incentive figure calls for a total of $70,135 for 3M — $29,673 from the city of Sanford and more than $40,000 from Lee County. The incentives would be paid in five installments over five years of nearly $6,000 from the city (the packet didn’t show the county’s payout, but if it follows the same format, they would pay around $8,000 a year for five years).

I have just begun looking over the documents, and we will have more on Monday’s meeting and the incentives package in Sunday’s Herald.

Until then, you can download a PDF of the incentives plan here:
LEE COUNTY, 3M INCENTIVES PUBLIC HEARING