Crockett Council Approves Tax Abatement
By Will Johnson
Messenger Reporter
CROCKETT – The Crockett City Council met on a chilly night Monday, Jan. 11 in a meeting highlighted by the approval of a tax abatement for Lincoln Lumber.
“This abatement agreement had to come back to council. The initial abatement did not include a couple of properties that were purchased. So, after we approved one set of properties for this business, they purchased a couple of other properties and we are trying to bring them all under the same abatement agreement,” City Administrator John Angerstein explained.
The abatement will run for five years with a 100 percent abatement in year one, 80 percent in year two, 70 percent in year three, 60 percent in year four and 50 percent in year five. The total estimated amount of the tax abatement is $191,366.
The sawmill is expecting to create 18 full-time jobs with an estimated annual payroll of $692,600.
The abatement was unanimously approved by the council.
Prior to the tax abatement discussion, the city accepted a donation to help with the animal control issue Crockett has. Recently, the council re-implemented an animal control officer’s position to help corral the large number of animals running loose in the city streets.
“Recently, Chuck and Kim Spellman made a donation to the city to help with animal control,” the city administrator informed the council members, who voted unanimously to accept the donation.
As the meeting continued, Crockett Mayor Dr. Ianthia Fisher opened a public hearing on the submission of an application to the Texas Department of Agriculture for a Community Development Block Grant.
The grant would be used for several infrastructure areas including water, sewer, streets, roads, bridges and drainage. The $350,000 grant is non-matching. With no public comments either for or against, the hearing was closed.
In other matters brought before the council:
- Crockett Police Chief Clayton Smith reported the police department received 385 calls for service during the month of December which resulted in 34 arrests. There were 172 traffic citations issued and 77 police reports filed.
- Crockett Fire Chief Jason Frizzell reported the fire department responded to 44 total calls during the month of December. Of the 44 calls, Frizzell reported 35 were in the city of Crockett while nine were in the county. There were no structure fires.
Will Johnson may be contacted via e-mail at [email protected].
