Politics & Government

Status of Tax Negotiations with Invensys to be Made Public Tuesday

Foxborough's Tax Increment Financing (TIF) negotiating committee will provide the town's Board of Selectmen with an update on talks with Invensys Tuesday night.

After roughly a month of negotiations with Invensys, the town’s Tax Increment Financing (TIF) negotiating committee is ready to present its findings to Foxborough’s Board of Selectmen Tuesday night.

The presentation is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. in the Andrew Gala Meeting Room of Town Hall and is expected to last at least 45 minutes.

An outline of Invensys’ desired terms of a 15-year TIF with the town showed the company, with roots over 100 years old in Foxborough, would be exempt from TIF payments over the first four years of the agreement.

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The outline, made public in March, shows Foxborough would receive $7,632,716 in total revenue over the 15-year term of the TIF, including $998,051 in TIF taxes over the final 11 years of the deal.

Foxborough resident John Spinney, who sits on the town's Advisory Committee, told selectmen last week he found those figures concerning.

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“I was really concerned [about the TIF proposal] because these things really do cost the town a lot of money and have to be negotiated and thought through,” Spinney said. … “There’s a lot of gamesmanship that goes on with these things. For example, if [Invensys] doesn’t get what [it] wants [then it is] going to move [its] people to Texas.”

Spinney said while he is not against a TIF there were concerns with what Invensys presented in a letter to Town Manager Kevin Paicos, which was made public in March and included the four-year tax exemption at the beginning of the 15-year TIF agreement.

“[I’m concerned with] providing a four-year, 100 percent exemption on the additional value that [Invensys is] putting into the properties,” Spinney said.

Spinney, through his own research and professional experience at KPMG, LLC, provided the board with his own version of a TIF module.

“Instead of giving 100 percent exemption in the first four years, you give 100 percent in year one and decrement that schedule by 1/15 for the next 14 years until it gets down to zero,” Spinney said. “In doing so, the town would collect $350,000 more in taxes and it would at least provide $12,000 to $30,000 in those four years where you would be getting nothing and quite frankly that could mean a new police cruiser, it could mean a bunch of different things for the town.”

Spinney said his module would be “balanced and fair” for the town while still giving Invensys a tremendous tax reduction as a result.

Spinney also believes the town should have the ability to renegotiate the TIF if Invensys enters into a sale and lease back agreement for one of its buildings, which would improve the value of the property.

“I didn’t want the town to miss that going forward and at least give ourselves the ability to talk to them again,” Spinney said.

Spinney strongly recommended the board also hire an independent consultant with experience working on TIFs for both companies and municipalities.

“I do strongly wish the board would hire an independent contractor and do something other than just take what is presented to us with an advisor that works as the applicant’s advisor,” Spinney said.

But Spinney’s biggest concern, however, is the precedent Foxborough’s first ever issued TIF will set for future businesses.

“From what I hear we want to be good people to a tenant and taxpayer that’s been here for 108 years,” Spinney said. … "It is certainly something the board should consider and the town at Town Meeting should consider. … In the same token, I just want to make sure the town doesn’t end up with a long-term problem.”

Spinney says a bad negotiation with the town’s first ever TIF will be the “baseline for any other TIFs that are done in town.”

“If we give away a four-year exemption at 100 percent the next person in here, let’s say it is the Kraft Group ... I have to imagine they are going to want most-favored-nation status,” Spinney said. … “It just doesn’t make any sense to me economically.”

Paicos is confident the presentation scheduled for April 2 will address many – if not all – of Spinney’s concerns.

“The proposal hasn’t been made yet,” Paicos said regarding the status of Invensys’ TIF negotiations with the town. “I think once the [TIF negotiating] committee reports to the Board of Selectmen a lot of questions will be answered. … Once all the facts are known publicly a lot of the concerns and questions raised will be well addressed.”

Paicos is a member of the town’s TIF negotiating committee, which includes Town Planner Sharon Wason, Financial Director Randy Scollins and Chief Assessor Hannelore Simonds. Serving the committee as advisors are Town Counsel Richard Gelerman and Building Inspector Bill Casbarra.

“When the committee was formed I was curious why there was nobody from the Advisory Committee quite frankly,” said Spinney. “But that’s OK, I took it upon myself to do a little bit of work.”

Invensys is seeking a TIF agreement with the town that would save the company nearly $2 million over 15 years while it invests $33 million worth of renovations to existing buildings and remain in Foxborough.

“The company currently occupies three underutilized and outdated locations in Foxborough,” said Invensys Senior Vice President Steve Sacco in a recent letter to Paicos. “It has proposed plans to consolidate into two buildings to maximize efficiency and provide a more modern and attractive workspace for its employees.”

The total project investment is currently estimated at $33 million and the breakdown is as follows:

  • $4 million for renovations at 38 Neponset Ave. building
  • $26 million for renovations at the 70 Mechanic St. building
  • $3 million for personal property

Sacco told Paicos that remaining in Foxborough and investing in Invensys’ current properties in town has been “identified as one of the viable options” and could prove to be the company’s most attractive if its TIF proposal is approved by voters at the May 13th Annual Town Meeting and finalized by the Massachusetts Economic Assistance Coordinating Council.

“The benefits to Foxborough from the proposed Invensys project would be substantial,” Sacco said. “Invensys would continue to stimulate economic development in Foxborough and retain hundreds of jobs in the community. Moreover, the company would continue to remain an active and dedicated member of the community.”

Click here to read more on the future of Invensys in Foxborough.


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