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Mt. Pleasant approves $764 million Foxconn incentive package

Posted at 9:57 PM, Nov 27, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-28 08:01:10-05

The Village of Mount Pleasant took another step forward in the Foxconn deal Monday night, approving a local incentives package worth hundred’s of millions of dollars.

The vote from the village board was unanimous and follows a similar deal approved by the state. 

The incentives package includes more than $764 million dollars from Racine County and the Village, all to be paid back by 2039 officials say.

In the agreement posted online for the public to see after months of secrecy, Foxconn will deposit $60 million dollars in the village’s account next month for the process of buying land through eminent domain to begin. 

Residents at Monday’s meeting were upset with the speed of the process.

“I don’t think a vote should be taken until everything has been made available to the citizens of Mount Pleasant,” said Christie Hall. 

The more than 80 page document was made available to the residents at the meeting for the first time less than an hour before the vote. Attorney Alan Marcuvitz who has been acting on behalf of the village said the speedy process was needed to keep things on track.

“Time is critical. We were working on this document at noon today. We need to get this thing moving… they want to start as soon as they can in 2018,” Marcuvitz said. 

Racine County will vote on a very similar agreement Tuesday, followed by the joint Tax District created for the project on Wednesday.

Officials expect infrastructure work to be on schedule for a March 2018 groundbreaking. The agreement says the project can't be started any later than Aug. 1, 2018.