NEW PHILADELPHIA – The city is considering granting Crane Carrier Co. a 75% tax rebate on a major facility expansion the company is planning at its Reiser Avenue SE location.
Crane Carrier, a Los Angeles-based subsidiary of Battle Motors, will double its facility and hire 300 new employees.
The company will invest $ 24 million on-site – $ 12 million in real estate improvements, $ 10 million in machinery and equipment, and $ 2 million in furniture and fixtures.
When the project is complete, Crane Carrier will have 400 employees and an estimated annual payroll of $ 17.2 million.
Mayor Joel Day estimated that New Philadelphia would receive $ 259,000 annually in income tax revenue from payroll. That’s in addition to the 1.5% net income tax paid annually by the company.
Council members discussed the proposed tax break on Monday.
Crane Carrier has been manufacturing commercial vehicles for 75 years and is based in New Philadelphia with 180 sales and service dealers across North America.
The company is a leader in the professional vehicle industry, providing custom chassis and purpose built vehicles for the waste and recycling, infrastructure maintenance, ground support, multi-stop distribution, agriculture, and oil and gas markets.
It was recently bought by Battle Motors but keeps the Crane Carrier name.
Battle Motors is developing electric vehicle technology and plans to incorporate the Crane Carrier chassis into its product.
“It’s a significant investment in New Philadelphia,” Day told the city council. “It will introduce us to a community that makes battery-powered vehicles, and for that reason I would expect other manufacturers in the field to be drawn in to support this.”
Day said he set the reduction figure of 75% in consultation with Harry Eadon and other staff at the Economic Development & Finance Alliance of Tuscarawas County (Port Authority).
The large number was deemed appropriate given the size of the planned investment by Crane Carrier, he said.
Officials from the New Philadelphia City Schools and the Buckeye Career Center have been notified of the proposal.
The tax break only needs to be approved by the city council, but Day recommended that the council give the resolution approving the deal two readings for school officials to comment.
The final vote on the tax exemption will take place at the Council meeting on July 26th.
