New Toyota dealership coming to Philadelphia
A new Toyota dealership is coming to Philadelphia off Highway 16 west and aldermen last week approved taxpayer funding for infrastructure improvements.
The Mayor and Board of Aldermen passed two resolutions at their Oct. 19 meeting to help bring the new car dealership to town.
Doc’s Toyota of Louisville will be building a new Toyota dealership on the south side of Highway 16 across from the Bumpers, Mayor James A. Young confirmed on Tuesday.
Doc’s Toyota is formerly known as Bullock Toyota and currently located in Louisville. “Construction is expected to start in January,” said Tim McCown, general manager of the dealership that currently employs approximately 20 people.
“It will be a new Toyota dealership,” McCown said. “It should break ground in a few months. It will be brand new from the ground up. It will be repair, service, rental cars, a full dealership.”
Under a TIF, a portion of the sales and ad valorem tax collections from the dealership is typically diverted to pay for water, sewer and road improvements. The amount of the borrowing and details were not announced.
A TIF is an economic development tool. Through the use of TIFs, governments typically divert revenue from a defined area or district toward an economic development project or public improvements project.
A $1.6 million TIF resolution was approved for Marshal Ford is 2015. A previous $2 million TIF was approved by the city for a Lowe’s in 2004.
The Board of Supervisors has not been approached about the Toyota TIF, County Administrator Jeff Mayor said Tuesday morning.
During last week’s meeting the board passed two resolutions regarding the TIF.
The first resolution was an engagement resolution.
“The engagement resolution — authorizes Board Attorney Robert Thomas as your attorney, Butler Snow as bond counsel, and Steve Pittman as financial and government consultant, to proceed with the legal analysis and make sure you do everything you need to do,” Sam Keyes of the Butler Snow law firm told aldermen.
The second resolution declares the city’s intent to proceed with the adoption of a taxing-financing plan. Keyes said state law requires a plan be in place before the city can proceed.
Aldermen passed both resolutions and set a public hearing for the second meeting of November to give details and answer questions from the public.
In other actions at the board’s Oct. 19 meeting, aldermen voted to:
• Approve the payment of $10,869 to the Parks Commission to close out Fiscal Year 2021.
• Tabled an order to pay $14,544 for work on the Booker T. Washington renovation project.
• Approve opening two new bank accounts and moving money from the General Fund for a better interest rate. The order moved $870,046 for the ARPA account, and $309,166 from the Modern Use account.
• Approve hiring Robert Windham to work part-time for Animal Control.
• Approve a request for the rental of seven hotel rooms for the fire department, which will be hosting a task force training at the Coliseum.
• Approve to accept three Homeland Security grants totaling $305,000.
• Aldermen were informed that the city has received the 2020 census data. Aldermen will be considering the data to redraw ward lines. There is no deadline to complete the work but attorney Robert Thomas said the city can’t have another election until it is complete.
• The board went into executive session to consider personnel issues.