One of the last official appearances Economic Development Coordinator Betsy Paynter made before departing for a post with the Town of Brookfield was to provide the Legislative Council an update on Newtown's Business Incentive Plan (BIP), which provides tax abatement benefits to companies moving to, expanding, or improving their facilities locally.

Joined by Economic Development Commissioners Robert Rau and Wes Thomas, Ms Paynter explained that the BIP was established to attract new and significant economic development to town to begin offsetting the disproportionate amount of property taxation facing local homeowners.

Ideal candidates for the plan, which offers a limited range of reduced taxation, include developers and industries looking to enhance existing commercial enterprises, build new facilities, or those looking to occupy or improve vacant or partially vacant commercial properties, Ms Paynter said.

She told council members that many neighboring communities are competing against Newtown to attract commercial developments and improvements, particularly Oxford, which has a state-approved enterprise zone specifically designed to capture relocating or newly developing businesses.

Ms Paynter said that as she responds to inquiries from companies considering relocating to Newtown, it is critical the town "puts its best foot forward to help attract new development," while at the same time encouraging improvements at existing commercial locations to help retain companies already established in Newtown.

The percentage of reduced taxation for qualified BIP applicants depends on the scope and size of new developments, she said.

"An abatement never reduces taxation below what that business or property owner was previously paying before applying for the BIP," Ms Paynter said. Applicants must provide details on how much money they will be investing in a new or existing development, and how many new jobs the project may create.

"No matter what, companies under the BIP always pay more in taxes than that property was generating before," she said.

$799,728.

Illustrating the cost/benefit results of the BIP, Ms Paynter projected a chart showing four applicants whose collective facilities or properties were generating a combined $177,141 in property and personal property taxes. Upon conclusion of their BIP abatement periods, the same four developments were generating

$632,951. Another vacant property at 164 Mt Pleasant Road was generating $9,869 before it was developed into a large scale medical professional facility, and is now generating $124,397.

The largest of these is the high tech manufacturer AFS on Edmond Road, which occupied a vacant facility that previously generated $154,114 in taxation, which is now generating

Ms paynter said rewarding BIP benefits can help convert blighted or abandoned properties into tax-generating corporate neighbors that contribute new jobs and new money to Newtown's grand List.

Councilman Ryan Knapp asked how the BIP is presented when prospects reach out to the EDC office. Mr Thompson replied that every qualifying business or development under the plan increases the tax base, so even the highest BIP award to date did not impact the town budget negatively.

He went on to say that most developers know to ask about any municipal or other benefit programs available. Ms Paynter added that the level of discussion around the BIP depends on the level of interest and size of the planned business.

She said a property like the former BlueLinx parcel on South Main Street has the disadvantage of not being on a sewer line, so the EDC might introduce the BIP benefit sooner rather than later when prospects call with interest about that property.

The EDC representatives said that the state allows towns to provide up to a 100 percent abatement for up to seven years, but the largest benefit awarded so far was to AFS, which received a 100 percent abatement exclusively on the taxation for improvements for five years.

"Without that incentive, AFS would have gone somewhere else," Ms Paynter said. Mr Rau added that the BIP also helps Newtown compete with New York and New Jersey state and county incentives offered to relocating companies that might also be considering western Connecticut, or Newtown in particular.

Council member Judit DeStafano asked if businesses that took the benefit and moved to larger locations in town were leaving smaller properties vacant, thereby reducing the tax revenue from those properties.

Ms Paynter replied that there will always be small businesses looking to locate or relocate into smaller commercial properties in town. She also noted that in the borough, the former vacant and blighted Lexington Gardens property and a blighted building on Queen Street have recently been improved and turned into productive, tax-generating properties as a result, in part, of receiving BIP benefits.

Ms Paynter said that telegraphing the availability of the sliding scale of tax benefits available under the BIP to the commercial marketplace, "sends a message to the market that Newtown is a worthy place [in which to] invest."