Town council OKs $250,000 tax abatement for S&J Excavation & Concrete

BROWNSTOWN — The owners of an excavation and concrete firm sought and received a $250,000 tax abatement for a new building at the Brownstown Industrial Park from the town council earlier this week.

Jim Plump, executive director of Jackson County Industrial Development Corp., presented the request on behalf of S&J Excavation & Concrete LLC. The company, which specializes in residential, municipal and commercial excavation, is located at 950 Veterans Drive and was established by Shanty and Jeremy Morrow in April 2016.

Plump said during the council’s meeting on Monday evening at the town hall that the Morrows plan to construct a 60-by-64-foot building as their veteran-owned business continues to grow.

He said the couple will retain the 24 employees with a payroll of $2 million and plan to add at least three new employees, which will add another $250,000 to the payroll.

Jeremy Morrow, who is the company’s vice president, said the estimated number of new employees to be added is conservative and that present plans are to hire four employees by the end of this month.

He said the new building, which is 3,840 square feet, will serve as a shop for the mechanics, and there are additional plans to invest another $300,000 this year for a building to be used as an office if things go right.

“So this isn’t the last time you will see us in here this year asking for an abatement,” he said.

Those offices are presently located in modular trailers at the site in the Brownstown Industrial Park off of State Road 135 on the south side of town.

Plump said the land where the company is located presently has a value of $100,000, and the Morrows are still paying taxes on that land.

The abatement will wind up saving the Morrows about half of their personal property taxes over the 10-year period the abatement is in effect, he said.

The first year, the Morrows would pay no personal property taxes on the building. The amount they would pay would increase each year by 10% until they are paying the full amount when the abatement expires.

Construction is expected to start by the end of April and be completed by the end of the year, Plump said.

According to the company website at sjexcavation.com, Shanty, who is president, spent seven years in the U.S. Marine Corps, and her husband started in the excavation field in 2004.