H.D. Smith Gets A Lot of Dough

Spurring business in Springfield may have a catch. Companies looking to expand may create jobs.. but it could also take money away from schools. That was the debate.. as the city council approves a one million dollar incentive for H.D. Smith to set up its headquarters in springfield. The health aid and beauty supplier H.D. Smith could have packed up and left town ... Instead they stayed ... Knowing they could get millions of dollars in tax breaks. But one alderman says that isnt smart money. City council approved a million dollars in T.I.F. money for the company that sells 35 thousand products. H.D. Smith plans to create 600 new jobs on its corporate campus. Instead of paying taxes for schools or property ... Businesses in T.I.F. districts pay the T.I.F. fund to promote economic development. The only alderman rejecting the plan says the city doesnt have that kind of money to give out. "The Fiat-Allis T.I.F. was a great tiff because it was a building that would never be used. Its making more than enough money to pay off the bonds i just am not ... Think that ... An individual company should get that much tax money." Said Ward 3 Alderman, Frank Kunz. The T.I.F.s life expires in 20-12 ... By then H.D. Smith will have paid 2.4 million dollars into the fund .. but the city says theyll eventually get that money back. H.D. Smith plans to complete this 50 million project in five years. The economic director says this is the largest T.I.F. money the city has dished out for a *private business in terms of what itll get back in return. Overall the city promised 10 million bucks for the Abraham Lincoln Museum and Library.