Following an expansion announcement, a Melbourne-based subsidiary of aircraft manufacturer Embraer hopes to receive $5 million in grants and property tax breaks from Brevard County.
Last October, Gov. Rick Scott announced the expansion of aircraft manufacturer Embraer in Melbourne. Now, the company has requested more than $5 million in incentives from Brevard County. The incentive package would assist Embraer in creating 600 local jobs with an average annual salary of $55,000 by 2019. Without these incentives, the company says that the planned expansion would not be economically feasible and could jeopardize the likelihood of the project being carried out at the Melbourne International Airport.
Currently, the plan includes the construction of a 250,000-square- foot facility to house Embraer’s newest executive jets, the twin-engine Legacy 450 and Legacy 500 and the expected production of 72 planes a year.
Some details of the incentives package include (according to FloridaToday.com):
- A $1 million grant, payable in October 2015.
- A property tax break worth an estimated $3.89 million over 10 years on Embraer’s $76.1 million capital investment. Even with the tax break, new tax revenue to the county, including school taxes, would be $5.33 million during the same 10-year period.
- And an additional “project completion grant,” spread over years 11 through 20. This grant, paid once a year, would be tied to the value of the company’s new capital investments that year and based on the property taxes due on those investments.
The incentive package is more extensive than the typical incentives discussed in Brevard County, particularly because it is a 20-year package, where most are 10-year agreements. However, if the package is approved, the expansion is expected to have a major economic impact on the Space Coast, including a potential annual payroll of $75 million for approximately 1,450 people.
The aerospace industry is thriving on the Space Coast. Embraer is the world’s third-largest aircraft manufacturer.