Village Council has approved a 75 percent tax abatement for a Ontario, Canada, company looking to invest $70 million to start a factory in the Ohio Commerce Center.

Staff report

LORDSTOWN

Village council has approved a 75 percent tax abatement for an Ontario, Canada, company looking to invest $70 million to start a factory in the Ohio Commerce Center.

The abatement for Metalco Inc. would be for 10 years.

Metalco Inc. is considering other locations besides Lordstown and has not bought land at the Lords-town site, said Dave Harrison, planning and zoning administrator for Lords-town.

The plant would employ about 60 people and have a payroll of about $4 million annually, he said.

The factory would be built on vacant land just north of the Anderson-Dubose Inc. headquarters on state Route 45 near the entrance to the Commerce Center.

Harrison said the abatement would reduce the amount of property taxes received by the Lordstown school district by $2,000 to $3,000 per year, but the village would share half of the increased income taxes with the school district.

The school district’s share of the income taxes might be in the range of $50,000 per year, so the school district would see a net increase in revenue if Metalco comes to town, Harrison said.

The village has been in weekly contact with Metalco since about the first of the year.

Metalco has manufacturing facilities in Ontario and in Canton, but the Canton facility would remain if Metalco chooses Lordstown, Harrison said.