Orange City Manager Dr. Shawn Oubre said the city has a timeline for the annexation of the International Paper containerboard mill.
Orange City Council will have to vote on the annexation in two separate meetings. Monday morning the council held the second of the required public hearings on the annexation.
Once again, Bobby Manshack, a board member of the Orange County Emergency Services District No. 3, appeared to question the annexation. The district provides fire protection and emergency medical care to about 6,000 people in the unincorporated areas of Little Cypress.
Manshack said losing the tax income from the paper mill will put the people in Little Cypress at risk. He said something bad is going to happen, “not if, but when.” The emergency services district will lose about $500,000 a year when International Paper becomes part of the city. Of that total, $80,000 is in property taxes and about $420,000 is from sales taxes that the voters in ESD 3 approved in 2010.
Company officials are working with the city on an economic development contract for payments to the city. The city has provided police and fire service for many years through an industrial district contract. The company has made in-lieu-of taxes payments to the city. In the current fiscal year, International Paper paid the city $314,630.
The City Council’s next two regularly scheduled meetings will be July 14 and July 28. The annexation votes could come then.
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