Boeing package unveiled

A state board took just three minutes to give final approval to borrowing $270 million to help build a Boeing Inc. aircraft assembly line in North Charleston.

There was no debate when the five-member Budget and Control Board met Wednesday to consider the package. Gov. Mark Sanford and other board members praised the company's decision to create 3,800 jobs at the plant.

Borrowing the money will cost taxpayers $23 million initially, and it's expected to take at least five years for the state to cover the full cost. That's the most the state has ever borrowed for an industrial company.

The package also includes a $102 million short-term loan to the state Commerce Department so work can begin right away.

Charleston County officials finished up work Tuesday on deals that will give hundreds of millions of dollars worth of tax breaks to the Boeing Co. for building its $750 million jet assembly plant.

Charleston County Council members voted unanimously on a deal that will mean hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax breaks. Minutes after the 9-0 approval, county officials distributed thick packets of legal documents that laid out major portions of the county's agreement with the company.

Those details were released after Boeing came under fire last week for asking the county to keep the details private for up to a year. Company officials later asked the county to release the information, said economic development director Steve Dykes.

"They wanted the aura of transparency to be as great as it could be," he said.

The most generous local tax break, a property tax break called a fee-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, wasn't given an estimated value. Through that deal, the company will pay a deeply discounted property tax assessment of 4 percent - less than half what a typical manufacturer pays in South Carolina.

The company's tax rate won't rise for the next 30 years, and half of what the company does owe in property taxes each year will be returned for company officials to spend on site improvements.

That gradual return will put an estimated $50 million back in Boeing's pocket during the next 15 years.

After all the breaks, the company is expected to pay about $138.6 million in property taxes during the course of the next 30 years. County officials did not estimate how much the company would have paid without the deal sweeteners.

Local incentives also give Boeing access to a $2,500-per-employee break on its annual corporate tax bill, which could amount to a $9.5 million break when the plant is fully operational.

Boeing has said it plans to open its assembly building next year with about 1,000 manufacturing employees, gradually adding staff to reach the 3,800-worker threshold needed to take advantage of what state lawmakers promised.

Charleston County officials will also administer $5.1 million in grants that Boeing can tap as it spends money on site improvements, in addition to the county spending a $150,000 grant on a traffic study for the area around the company's 400-acre site.

State lawmakers have put the combined value of the state and local incentives at $450 million, but the Senate Finance Committee has never broken down that figure.