County OKs tax break for GM

After it gets all the incentives it wants, GM will decide if it will keep its Lordstown plant going.
WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners did as expected and have approved what they call "the biggest tax abatement in history and one of the biggest in the state of Ohio."
"This is highly competitive, and we are showing here that we are willing and able to compete with anyone else in the world," Commissioner James G. Tsagaris said after Wednesday's vote.
The tax abatement forgives all village and county property taxes for 10 years on a $500 million investment in an effort to keep the General Motors plant at Lordstown running.
School district: The company will pay the Lordstown School District a small slice of the money that would have gone to the village and county, as well as 25 percent of the taxes it would normally pay from plant operations over the 10-year period.
General Motors also is seeking incentives from the state for road and infrastructure improvements around the plant, said Tom Mock, a plant spokesman.
After those have been worked out, the company will decide if it will build its new line of small cars at the Lordstown facility, he said.
"The small car is definitely a big part of GM's future and we feel that the best small car makers in the nation are right here in Lordstown," Mock said.