By: NICOLAS FIERRO
Salina Post
A 3-2 vote from Salina Commissioners, denied a sales tax abatement for a nonprofit company.
During Monday's meeting, Kansas Municipal Energy Agency-Mid States (KMEA) were seeking a possible sales tax exemption for an expansion project consisting of three new buildings.
Those buildings consisted of:
- Office, line shop.
- Fabrication shop.
- Warehouse.
The proposal was for a share of the City, Saline County and the State to take portions of a sales tax abatement, which totaled $250,000.
Commissioner Doug Rempp was one of three who denied as he stated, KMEA has enough income already since the average salary for an employee is $110,000.
He further stated this is triple the amount of the average annual income for a taxpayer in Salina.
Commissioner Mike Hoppock voted to deny as well, and he stated his reason was that he would feel the City would have a disadvantage.
"The reason I voted nay, because it seems like we are giving other municipalities a break but yet cutting ourselves out of the loop," he said.
Salina Community Economic Development Organization Executive Director, Mitch Robinson stated the City has done abatements over the past 10 years for existing companies. Some include Schwan's, GeoProbe, Great Plains/Kubota and Superior Plumbing & Heating. The newest company was for Beck's Hybrids.
Those abatements were done if there was a projected revenue increase from the company.
KMEA purchased Mid States Energy Works in 2020, becoming KMEA-Mid States.
KMEA-Mid States currently employs 20 employees and are currently located in north Salina. KMEA provides a range of services consisting of electricity, natural gas supply, engineering support and more.