Lincoln County supervisors’ decision Monday to deny an advalorum tax exemption to Primos CNC Production Department may havestiff ramifications for the company’s presence in Brookhaven,company officials said.

County and economic development officials cited time and otherfactors that they say prevented the board from granting therequest.

Primos Manager and Vice President Anthony Foster said plans foran addition to the facility that would have included approximately$450,000 worth of new equipment and created around 30 new jobs havebeen nixed following the supervisors’ decision.

Though the total amount of tax relief that would have beengranted to Primos by the exemption amounted to only about $6,600,Foster said the decision to terminate plans for expansion – whichcame down from the company’s corporate office – was based more onprinciple than dollars.

“The board is really taking a non-business attitude,” he said ofthe supervisors’ decision. “We’re not seeing a lot of interest inus from the county. Primos is not going to go under because ofthis, but you don’t want to feel like the county don’t appreciateyou, either.”

Foster said the planned expansion could be moved to Primos’Flora location. He said moving Primos from Lincoln Countyaltogether is an option, but an unlikely one.

The county, however, has strict guidelines to follow whenconsidering exemptions. While the supervisors are hopeful thatPrimos will proceed with its expansion regardless, the board is inthe business of granting exemptions to either new industries orexpansions to existing businesses only.

Primos has no such expansion. Board president the Rev. Jerry L.Wilson was the only supervisor to support an exemption for thecompany – his motion died when there was no second.

“Primos wanted an exemption for what they’ve already got downthere – they haven’t made any expansion,” said District TwoSupervisor Bobby J. Watts. “They haven’t added any new equipment,new employees or anything.”

Even had Wilson’s motion carried, an ad velorum exemption forPrimos would have been questionable. Brookhaven-Lincoln CountyChamber of Commerce Executive Vice President Cliff Brumfield saidthe Mississippi State Tax Commission would not allow exemptions onexisting property beyond a certain time frame.

“If the exemption was to remove existing properties (fromtaxation), the county may have had no choice but to deny theexemption,” he said. “The statute provides a time frame for whenthese exemptions can be requested. Perhaps it was on the basis ofthat time frame elapsing prior to this year which kept thesupervisors from being able to move forward with Primos’request.”

In the same Monday meeting that saw the supervisors deny Primos’ad valorum exemption request, an identical exemption was granted toReed’s Metals Inc. Approximately $11,600 of property taxes werewaived by the supervisors for a $1.6 million expansion completed atthat company.

Owner Bernard Reed said the extra money granted by the exemptionwould be put back into the company, and further expansions werebeing planned for the future.