A public hearing was held earlier this week for a new industrial tax exemption ordinance for Greene County.

We’ve previously reported that the ordinance would allow for a five-year abatement of taxes on new construction or an addition to an industrial manufacturer, distribution center, research center, cattle facility or a public warehouse in the county.  The ordinance is for the rural parts of the county, because each city has its own form of industrial tax exemption.

Supervisor Chair John Muir says this ordinance gives them the ability to offer incentives to try and capture those types of businesses.

“Going forward, it’s set in stone.  There was a period of time where there was a limbo on some of these, we would have meetings, we’d had discussions (and) very good ones I thought.  Then we would never hear anything back (from them) or they went some place else.  We now we’ve got a formal description of what we will offer.”

The public hearing was the first step in the process to adopt the new ordinance.  It must go through three required readings by the Supervisors before it can take effect.