York County Council unanimously approved a revised tax incentive package Monday night for Octapharma’s planned facility in Rock Hill, steering more of the project’s revenue to the Rock Hill School District and giving the city of Rock Hill until August to sign on.
The 6-0 vote at a special meeting at the York County Heckle Complex on Heckle Boulevard capped weeks of disagreement over how to divide the money the project would generate. The council spent about an hour and a half in executive session before emerging to take the votes.
The revised incentive ordinance
The main action came on the first agenda item, a reconsideration and third reading of the ordinance authorizing the fee in lieu of taxes (FILOT) and incentive agreement for the project the county has identified as Project Palmetto Rock, the plasma manufacturing plant Octapharma plans to build in Rock Hill. The council amended the ordinance and passed it on third and final reading, 6-0.
The vote followed a 4-3 decision on July 15, when the council first approved a revised agreement that requires the city of Rock Hill to contribute more funding than the original proposal called for. Monday’s meeting locked that structure into place.
Repealing the earlier ordinance
On the second item, the council gave first reading to an ordinance repealing Ordinance No. 2626, the earlier version of the Project Palmetto Rock authorization. That vote was also 6-0. As a first reading, the repeal still faces two more readings before it is final.
How the revenue would be divided
Under the revised agreement, revenue from the project would flow into a single fund and be split among York County, the city of Rock Hill and the Rock Hill School District. The school district would receive about 66.8%, the city about 19.4% and the county about 13.8%.
The changes tilt more money toward the schools. The 10% share that would normally go to the county’s Economic Development Fund, roughly $41 million, would instead go to the Rock Hill School District, and 1% would go to the partner county under the multi-county industrial park structure. For years 21 through 30 of the agreement, the special source revenue credit (SSRC) would drop from 20% to 15%.
Council members said the revised terms would send the Rock Hill School District an additional $65 million over the life of the project, which they described as a 40-year revenue-sharing agreement.
What happens next
The deal is contingent on the city of Rock Hill approving the terms by Aug. 14. If the city does not agree, the council built in a provision to cancel the agreement. The amended ordinance takes effect Aug. 14.
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Thomas Hyslip lives in Tega Cay with his wife and daughter. After 27 years in the U.S. Army and Federal Law Enforcement, he retired to pursue his passion for teaching. Tom is now an Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of South Florida. In 2 short years he has won 10 awards from the South Carolina Press Association, including first place in column writing, education beat reporting and best podcast.
