City and company will now begin formal talks on proposed $9M TIF
The Waukesha Common Council approved a memorandum of understanding with Waukesha Electric Systems on Thursday, the first step toward approving the company’s planned $42 million expansion in the city.
The memorandum of understanding allows the city and company to officially begin preparation for the creation of a $9 million tax incremental financing (TIF) district, which would help pay for some infrastructural-related expenses related to the expansion of the company’s headquarters and manufacturing facility at 400 S. Prairie Dr. in Waukesha.
Steve Crandall, director of Waukesha’s Redevelopment Authority, said Waukesha Electric has not submitted any specific plans for its proposed expansion so far and the city does not know its size.
“We will be meeting with them now to put together a time frame for the TIF,” he said. “We will start to get into the meat of the process now.”
According to the memorandum of understanding, the company is planning to add at least 100 new jobs in engineering, manufacturing and business support once the expansion is complete.
Waukesha Mayor Larry Nelson, who was defeated in an election last week, previously told BizTimes that the memo was the result of six months of negotiation between the city and Waukesha Electric Systems.
In January, Waukesha received $12.45 million in federal tax credits to expand its Waukesha plant to make large high voltage power transformers. At the time, the company anticipated that more than 80 percent of the transformers will be used to help bring renewable energy to distant load centers or to replace aging, less efficient transformers.
“These are the kind of skilled manufacturing, engineering and support jobs that will bring new people to our city,” Nelson said.
