RINGGOLD, Ga. – After a double check on whether the company held up its end of the agreement, the Development Authority of Catoosa County voted Thursday to give BMG Bakery a $40,000 tax break.
The authority and the bakery, which supplies Dunkin’ Donuts, agreed in August 2017 to a property tax abatement plan, as long as the bakery hit performance goals. By July 1 of this year, the company needed to hire 28 full-time employees and eight part-time workers. It also needed to install at least $3.1 million worth of equipment into its factory, located on Rollins Industrial Boulevard off Alabama Highway.
The abatement would apply to ad valorem taxes on the factory’s equipment. But when executives for the bakery asked for the tax break a couple of weeks ago, BMG President David Baumgartner said, representatives for the authority told them they didn’t appear to hit their goals. Baumgartner said this was based off outdated information.
Companies have to file personal property returns with the local tax assessors’ office by April 1 every year, outlining every piece of equipment and how much each piece is worth. The list supplied this year showed that the factory had about $1.6 million worth of equipment.
But that was only the equipment installed by the end of 2017. Since then, according to documents the company gave the county, the factory has installed about $2.1 million worth. He gave the authority a draft of a tax bill for 2019. He also supplied a payroll sheet from November, showing the company employs 97 full-time workers.