Published: July 24, 2008 04:01 pm            

Development authority considering backing industrial bonds

The Dalton-Whitfield Joint Development Authority has the legal power to assist businesses issuing industrial revenue bonds.

The authority has used that power just once, as part of a deal that provided tax incentives to automobile parts manufacturer Shiroki to expand its Dalton plant.

The authority’s board agreed Thursday to develop a policy for backing industrial bonds for firms that don’t qualify for its incentives policy. Those bonds can benefit local businesses by giving them access to lower interest rates. Board members said that policy must make sure that neither the authority nor the city of Dalton or Whitfield County assume any financial liability for those bonds.

“We do have the constitutional authority,” said authority board chairman Chuck Dobbins. “We just have not taken a policy on whether we would do that.”

Board members also discussed whether they should acquire and prepare property for industrial development. Board members noted the authority has the legal power to do that, but when it was first set up three years ago they did not see that as part of their mission. But recent studies done for the authority indicate that the absence of large “shovel ready” industrial properties is a problem for Whitfield County in attracting new companies.

Board members also appointed Joe Robertson as the authority’s liaison to the new board of the Dalton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.

        

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