By TONY Brown News editor, Maryville Daily Forum
Posted: Tuesday, November 25, 2014 6:07 am
Maryville’s largest employer is about to become an actual part of the city of Maryville.
City Manager Greg McDanel and Kawasaki Motors Mfg. Corp. U.S.A. Plant Manager and Vice President Steve Bratt jointly announced at Monday’s City Council meeting that the 1,100-employee small-motor factory is to be incorporated into the city limits.
The 800,000 square-foot plant is located just south of town near the intersection of South Main Street and Highway 71.
The “self-annexation,” which is to become official in about a month, significantly increases Kawasaki’s tax liability, but will swell municipal coffers by providing new property tax revenue for the city proper along with the Maryville Public Library and Maryville Parks & Recreation, both set up as quasi-independent agencies.
In addition, since Kawasaki operates under a “direct pay” sales tax agreement with the state of Missouri, the city will now realize additional sales tax revenue as well.
Bratt said Kawasaki’s decision to request annexation was rooted in a desire to fulfill its “corporate responsibility” to the city on whose outskirts it has operated for the past 25 years, especially in the wake of the Energizer battery plant closure in 2013.
“We are proud to be a part of Maryville,” Bratt said. “We’re just not in Maryville, and we would like to take this opportunity to join the city.”
For complete details about the proposed Kawasaki annexation see Wednesday’s report in the Maryville Daily Forum.