SALISBURY — The Salisbury City Council voted to make changes to the city’s investment grant program to match Rowan County’s policy at its May 7 meeting.

Downtown Development Director Sada Troutman said the policy incentives Salisbury has now for businesses looking to relocate to the area were created in March 2006, with the county altering theirs in April 2023. After Rowan Economic Development Council President Rod Crider and Vice President Scott Shelton shared these adjustments to city staff at the council retreat back in January, Salisbury chose to take steps towards having identical guidelines. 

“These incentive grants are currently offered in tiers based on anticipated investment,” Troutman said.

The policy’s main revisions are to the incentive percentages for eligible projects.

“The percentages are based on the value of real and personal property tax revenue anticipated to be generated by the project,” according to the city council agenda packet. 

Salisbury’s current investment grant program is as follows: level 1 requires a $5 million investment and that comes out to 75 percent, level 2 requires a $50 million investment and that comes out to 80 percent, and level 3 requires a $100 million investment and that comes out to 85 percent.

The new program will have the following tiers: level 1 requires a $5 million investment and that comes out to 40 percent, level 2 requires a $50 million investment and comes out to 45 percent, and level 3 requires a $100 million investment and that comes out to 50 percent. 

Troutman said city staff is going to bring more “extensive revisions” to the policy before the council in the near future, but explained, “We feel this addresses some of the concerns that were brought up at the council retreat and gives us the opportunity to move forward, bringing business and industry to Salisbury.”

Mayor Karen Alexander seemed to find these alterations necessary for Salisbury’s overall success.

“We are just trying to reduce the amount of incentive because we’ve all been at the 80 percent, which is pretty significant and we’re now considered a very desirable community, so we’re reducing the incentives that these companies get,” Alexander said. “I think this is a good place to start.”