The Economic Development Corp. of Jefferson County has approved an amendment to the agreement with Energy Security Partners (ESP) which will allow ESP to buy the land they are currently leasing in northern Jefferson County.
The Economic Development Corp., commonly known as the tax board, administers the 3/8th cent sales tax approved by voters in 2011 for economic development.
ESP is building a facility to convert natural gas into liquid fuel and according to the amended lease, has an option to buy the land after Nov. 1, 2022 with 30 days’ notice and provided ESP is not in default of the lease at the time of purchase.
In October, The Arkansas Economic Development Corp. the Arkansas Department of Transportation and GTL Americas LP approved a grant to construct a road into the property with the cost of that work guaranteed by the tax board.
Allison Thompson, president and CEO of the Economic Development Alliance for Jefferson County said Thursday ESP must also provide the tax board with a written release from the AEDC for the guarantee.
Funds from the sales tax, which ended collections in 2018 are designed to help qualified businesses currently located in Jefferosn County or looking to locate in the county offset the cost of capital expansion projects and create jobs.
The contracts are structured as a performance agreement with the number of full-time primary jobs created or retained, average wages, capital investments and /or other specific performance measures.
