May 22, 2017

Mueller Industries PILOT Gets OK from Collierville Mayor and Board

The Commercial Appeal

By Linda Moore

Mueller Industries’ relocation to Collierville moved forward on Monday with the approval of a 10-year PILOT by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen that will mitigate 75 percent of the property taxes for the nearly $15 million development.

The PILOT (payment-in-lieu-of-tax) resolution passed in a 5-1 vote with Alderman Tom Allen voting no.

Allen took issue with the length of the PILOT, pointing out that Collierville, as a town, has a lot to offer the companies seeking PILOTS.

“I don’t think we give the benefit to ourselves, of what we furnish the employees that come here, the employers, either one. We offer them a lot of benefits also, ” Allen said.

However, the 10-year PILOT is consistent with awards given to other businesses, said John Duncan, Collierville’s director of economic development.

Also, Mayor Stan Joyner told the board that the 10-year PILOT had already been approved by Shelby County and couldn’t be changed. The county’s tax abatement will be $183,000 annuall

Without the PILOT the proposed development would have generated $99,107 in annual Collierville property taxes. The 3.5-acre tract at the southeast corner of Schilling Farms Boulevard and Schilling Farms Boulevard East, now garners the town $4,700 a year in property taxes.

Mueller manufactures metal and plastic flow-control products and is now headquartered in the Southwind area of Memphis. The 100-year-old company moved to Memphis in 1996.

Talks between Mueller and Collierville began two years ago, Duncan told the board and was a competitive process with Memphis, Germantown, Olive Branch and Fayette County vying for the corporate headquarters.

The new offices will be owned by developer Kevin Hyneman Companies and leased to Mueller. It will bring 120 jobs with an average annual salary of $89,000 and the possibility of 10 new jobs by 2023.