BATH
The first in a series of “conversations” between the City Council and Bath Iron Works officials took place Wednesday as the shipbuilder seeks additional tax breaks to become more competitive in an increasingly diverse industry.
John Fitzgerald of Bath Iron Works made a small presentation to the council after the close of the regular council meeting.
Fitzgerald said new players are getting into the naval contract business in states like Wisconsin and Alabama, and many of these states and communities offer a great deal of tax support.
He also pointed out that naval contracts are becoming far more difficult to obtain, and that the government is no longer willing to pay a premium for quality work such as is done at BIW.
BIW already has had three tax increment financing districts created for it. Only two of them return funds to BIW.
A TIF is a public subsidy that rebates property tax to a developer or company to finance new development.
BIW’s first TIF district went to update the older part of the shipyard; a second helped pay for the dry dock and Ultra Hall, the large building near the south end of the shipyard. The third was used to fund municipal improvements and the Wing Farm infrastructure.
Fitzgerald said a new TIF district would be used to erect a new building near the south end of the shipyard. It would be called an Outfitting Hall and contain two new cranes.
The next competition for Navy ships is 2017 — enough time, Fitzgerald said, to get everything ready to go.
There are other jobs in the meantime, including a Coast Guard order and some aftermarket work, mostly repairs and replacements.
A second TIF workshop was scheduled for Sept. 4.
Bruce Gagnon and Mary Beth Sullivan, peace activists of Bath, spoke out against the TIF for BIW.
“This ongoing transfer of public funds to private corporations is corporate welfare that Bath, our state and our country cannot afford,” Gagnon said during the public comment part of the City Council meeting.
“I am concerned that we will modernize infrastructure at BIW to build warships,” said Mary Beth Sullivan. “If we continue to make warships, we’ll continue to make war.”
ghamilton@timesrecord.com
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