No public hearings have been scheduled on a proposal to create an Enhanced Enterprise Zone (EEZ) that would include much of Fulton and about 20 percent of Callaway County, Presiding Commissioner Gary Jungermann said Tuesday.
Jungermann said after the commission completes action on the 2013 county budget, he plans to ask for public hearings to learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of an enhanced enterprise zone, which offers tax credits to qualified new businesses and expansion of existing businesses within the zone.
A plan to establish an EEZ in Columbia was dropped recently after Regional Economic Development Inc., the main promoter of the project, decided to stop its efforts in the wake of strong opposition voiced by local businesses and others. The main objection is the requirement that areas included in the zone would be designated as blighted.
Callaway County encountered similar opposition. During a Nov. 29 public forum on the EEZ proposal in Fulton, numerous Callaway farmers objected to the plan designed to give tax breaks to businesses.