County leaders to vote on LORD Corp.’s temporary tax exemption request

July 20--LORD Corp. is asking Crawford County government for a break on real estate taxes if the company moves forward with multimillion dollar modernization of its Saegertown chemical adhesives plant.

PENNCREST School District and the borough of Saegertown already have granted LORD a 10-year Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance, or LERTA, exemption if the project moves forward, according to Brian Gibson, plant manager of LORD Corp.'s Saegertown plan.

Under a LERTA, property taxes on improvements to a property are exempted for a given time period on a sliding scale, usually 10 or 20 percent a year, until the full property tax rate is reached. The LERTA sought by LORD Corp. would apply only to the newly assessed value of the Saegertown facility after new capital improvements and expansion, Gibson said at Wednesday's work session of county commissioners.

Saegertown is one of several potential locations for the project, Gibson said. Other sites are in Ohio, New York and Alabama. The company's board of directors potentially is expected to vote on the project in August, Gibson said.

The estimated capital investment would be $35 million to $80 million, depending on the potential scope of the project, according to Gibson. The expansion may include an investment between $5 million to $20 million for an additional 30,000- to 70,000-square-foot building space.

The project's scope would range from modernization of some existing equipment and structure to modernization and expansion for increased production capacity, Gibson said.

No increase of LORD's 220 jobs at Saegertown is expected, Gibson said.

"This is really about job retention," Gibson told the Tribune following his brief presentation. "We do have the potential for some other business coming in."

The Saegertown plant has been expanded several times since it opened in 1961 but needs to modernize some of its processing equipment, Gibson said.

Commissioners expressed support for the project and are expected to vote on the LERTA request at their meeting next week.

Keith Gushard can be reached at 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.

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