De Soto council to consider up to $210 million in bonds for Merck Animal Health expansion
The deal would cut property taxes on the new improvements by 85% for 10 years, the city memo says.
DE SOTO - The De Soto City Council on Thursday, Nov. 5, will consider issuing up to $210 million in taxable industrial revenue bonds for an expansion of Merck Animal Health's De Soto campus, according to an agenda memo.
Intervet Inc., which does business as Merck Animal Health, is expanding its campus at 35500 W. 91st St., the memo says. Ordinance 2707 continues a bond program the city began with the company in 2019.
The bonds are not a debt of the city and are paid only from the company's lease payments, according to the memo. While the city holds title, the new improvements would be exempt from property tax, subject to state approval. Under a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement, the company would pay 15% of the taxes otherwise due on them from 2027 through 2036, which the memo calls "in effect, an 85% abatement for ten years." After 2036 they return to the tax rolls in full.
The memo does not say what the expansion will build or how many jobs it adds. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 32905 W. 84th St., and streams on the city's YouTube channel, the agenda says.
Source: Item 4a memo, Ordinance No. 2707; Nov. 5 City Council agenda.