In another indication that it plans to remain in the Toledo metropolitan area, package shipper FedEx Ground yesterday applied for tax abatement to build a new regional hub in Perrysburg Township.
The company would move from its present location in South Toledo to a planned $87 million facility on a parcel east of the Buck Road and I-75 interchange.
The company had been considering other locations, including one in Monroe County, Michigan.
Under its application submitted yesterday to Wood County, FedEx Ground is asking for a 100 percent tax abatement on improvements to the property in Perrysburg Township.
FedEx spokesman David Westrick in Pittsburgh portrayed the application as a paperwork requirement of Wood County, and not a commitment.
We provided all the information we were asked for, Mr. Westrick said.
We re still looking and it s fair to say we re in the final stages. We re still looking at a decision sometime this month.
Because FedEx hasn t publicly stated its intentions, public officials were hesitant yesterday to speak for the company.
I think this is just the first piece of this puzzle, Wood County Commissioner Jim Carter said. I believe FedEx is waiting for agreement with the state.
A spokesman for Toledo Mayor Carty Finkbeiner said the move would be good for FedEx, Toledo, and the township because of a proposed joint economic development agreement that would allow for water and sewer services and tax-sharing.
We put together one heck of a package for them, so we re confident that Ohio s going to be their choice and Perrysburg Township is going to be their choice, and we re both going to benefit from it, spokesman Brian Schwartz said.
In July, Mr. Finkbeiner accused Wood County and Perrysburg Township of poaching Toledo businesses, and threatened to block FedEx s applications for state tax incentives, including tax abatement.
A month later, however, the Finkbeiner administration and Perrysburg Township were quietly negotiating the tax-sharing agreement that would allow FedEx to move across county lines with Toledo s blessing.
Last month, Toledo and Perrysburg Township agreed in principle to establish a joint economic development district that would allow them to share a 2.25 percent payroll income tax.
Currently, FedEx s local terminal is on Reynolds Road near Angola Road. It has about 400 employees, according to its application.
FedEx s application says it plans to spend $48 million on new construction and $39 million on equipment as well as $73,000 on furniture and fixtures.
The application does not state how much FedEx will pay for the real estate, currently owned by Willis Day Warehousing Co., or whether it will seek real estate tax abatement.
Work on the project would begin in November and end in June, 2009.
The application states that FedEx would create 31 new full-time and 91 new part-time jobs over the first three years, with total new wages of $2.9 million.
The existing annual payroll is 152 full-time employees and 259 part-time employees, paid a total of $9.2 million a year.
Nationally, FedEx Ground is undergoing a $1.8 billion expansion.
The tax abatement would be allowed under a community reinvestment act zone that Perrysburg Township has applied to create in the northwest section of the township.
The joint economic development district agreed to in principle between Toledo and Perrysburg Township would allow the two entities to levy Toledo s 2.25-percent payroll income tax on businesses that agree to join the district.
FedEx Ground s income tax is said to yield about $200,000 a year for Toledo.
Mr. Carter said the application has to be approved by the commissioners, the township trustees, and the local school district, and said there is a 30-day deadline to act.
Contact Tom Troy at: tomtroy@theblade.com or 419-724-6058.
First Published October 5, 2007, 11:29 a.m.
